It WAS a normal day
by EmPro8
Summary: Hi. Human here. Name's Emily Wise. Yes, its a stupid name. Don't you dare make any puns. I've heard it all before. And I know someone's going to read this and say that their name is Wise and get insulted, but I don't care. I'm the one writing the story here. So anyway I'm sure you want to know what the heck I'm doing here. I'm here to tell you about the day my life changed forever.
1. Chapter 1: The Not-so-Average-Day

**Heyo guys! This is completely different than what I promised! Sorry!**

 **So, I promised to myself that I would post no stories that was not for sure going to be finished. And so far, I kept that promise. But, I am actually kind of proud of this. And also, if I want to write a book, I need to learn how to write OCs. So I did a bit of experimenting with this a while ago, and I kind of liked it. But I want an outsiders opinion. I want to know if my character's May Sue, if it's too cliché, if she doesn't stay in character all the way, if she's interesting, if she's realistic, all that stuff. I need to know. So I was hoping by posting this I would get some opinion. If you don't have anything to say, you don't have to. I would like some normal reviews too. But whether or not this would ever be continued, we will have to see. Sorry guys. But enjoy it anyway!**

I didn't know how I got there, or if _there_ even existed.

Maybe I finally lost it. Maybe the whole thing was made up. Maybe it never existed.

I might have believed that it was all no more than an illusion, except for the fact that it felt so _real._

Hello, my name's Emily something Wise. And this is _my_ story.

It started out as a normal day, ya' know? The birds were a singin', the children were a laughin', and I was a pickpocketin'.

Yep. A normal day for 'Ly Wise. Just a normal day.

Now, before I go further into this story, I need to explain something to ya'. I'm _homeless._ Yep. Your average, streetwise, Hobo Joe from the street. Don't know exactly where my parents are at the moment, nor do I care. See, me and my parents, we have something you might call a 'bad relationship', and that's why I ran away.

Now, don't get me wrong, I loved my parents and all… well, actually… I don't. Yeah. Some of you might say, "Of course you love your parents! Somewhere deep inside you must feel _some_ attachment to them!"

Well, I don't. It's kinda' hard to get attached to something you probably see only a few hours a week. And those few hours weren't exactly what you would call _pleasant experiences._

Which was why I ran away. And changed my last name. There was no way that I was going to have any connections to _those people._ I ran away, and I was _not_ coming back.

So, when I ran away, I decided I needed a new name. And some stupid voice inside my head decided, _Hey! What about Wise? Emily Wise? That sounds catchy!_

So of course I, being the young and foolish girl I was, went with it. And it kinda' stuck.

Is it unrealistic? Yes. Is it stupid? Yes. Is it cheesy? Are people weirded out by it? Why, yes and yes.

So why don't I change it? Because one, I can't think of anything else, and two, you try tracking down the record of a girl named 'Emily Wise'.

And I can assure you someone is gonna' read this, and they're going to say, " _Hey! My name's Wise! You insulted me deeply and I'm gonna' press charges and blah blah blah blah blah."_

To be honest, I don't care. If you're last name happens to be Wise, good for you! But when you come up with a name when you're eleven and you think it's the most awesome thing ever and everyone will be impressed by it and it turns out that they're not, well… it leaves a negative impression on you, okay? And like I said, the name stuck.

So anyways, I'm sure you're all bored out of your mind reading my tragic backstory and you just want me to get on with it, so I guess I better stop rambling and get on with this stupid thing.

So like I said, it was a normal day for Emily Wise.

I was pickpocketing, conning, and pulling off that 'poor little helpless homeless girl' look on passerby's while I was panhandling. You know, the normal teenage stuff.

But then, unfortunately, I died.

I know what you're all thinking: You think that I can't be dead because… well… you know. Only living beings can type stories. But I can assure you that I was very much dead.

Are you interested in how I died? You aren't? Well, too bad. You're going to hear it anyway.

It went something like this:

I just pickpocketed a rich dude. He was one of those snotty guys with big noses and large suits and the newest i-phone. So anyways, I stole his wallet and whatever, and I slipped into an alleyway to count the change. But, a few of my other street buddies saw me. And by buddies, I mean acquaintances. And by acquaintances, I mean terrible jerks who hate my guts.

So they cornered me (in the alleyway) and demanded some money for a dealing I did about a week ago. Apparently, whatever I gave them wasn't 'sufficient pay', and I needed to give them more.

I tried to argue that plastic play money was a great pay and now they could go home and rip off a few kids at the park with it.

They weren't being very reasonable at the moment.

So, of course, being the stupid jerks they are, they decided to go seven to one. One guy kneed me in the stomach and the others hit me with lead pipes that happened to be laying around. Don't ask me why or how, but there was lead pipes. And a bunch of other hard things. But it was mostly lead pipes.

Once they finished hitting me to near death with lead pipes, they took my rightfully earned money and ran, leaving me in the gutter.

Is it needless to say that I was hurting?

I was in a lot of pain or whatever. Clutching my body and maybe crying a little bit. I freaked out when I started to cough up blood, and started to have something commonly known as a panic attack. But that's hard to do when you're ribs are broken.

But despite everything, I think I still had a chance of living, you know? If I lived for a few more minutes, I nice couple would have found me and sped me off to the hospital. Sure, I would be thrown into juvy for a few months and then put into the system, but I would have lived.

That is, if it didn't start to rain.

It started to rain, hard. I was soaked to the bone. Clothes wet, teeth chattering, hands shaking. My poor body just couldn't handle it.

So I died.

Right there.

In the rain.

Alone.

Some of you guys will think that's very sad and all. Sad that a fourteen-year-old African American homeless girl, just barely over the age of childhood, would die like that. Die by being beaten to death by a bunch of worthless jerks who belong in juvy.

Though, honestly, that was just the start of a new life.

It's kinda' ironic, really. Die to live. But that's how my life goes, I guess.

So after I died, I woke up in an alley.

Was I weirded out?

No, not really.

Believe it or not, I dream about death (my death specifically) an unnatural number of times. It's kinda' creepy, really. I just blame it on my homelessness and my _lovely_ parents.

So when I woke up in an alley, after 'dreaming' about death, I was only slightly confused by the fact that I couldn't remember falling asleep.

But, nonetheless, I shouldered my backpack and put up my hoodie, trying to block out my easy-to-recognize frizzy hair.

I decided to start out the day as normal. I went looking for the biggest crowds to pickpocket and then maybe look out for any conning opportunities later.

Here's the first thing that I noticed when I walked out the alley: the city was filled with animals.

And not just your normal kind, but a kind that walk, talk, and act like humans. I even saw one guy holding a smartphone.

And it wasn't just a few sheep or a cute bunny here and there. But I'm talking big, humongous, man-eating carnivores. Polar bears, tigers, lions, hyenas, and even a grizzly bear. All walking and talking like normal human beings. Flashing their pointy claws and big, shiny teeth.

Is it appropriate to say that I screamed? Well, I did.

I screamed and ran the opposite direction.

In hindsight, that probably wasn't a very good idea. Because that meant _everyone_ looked my direction. Which was exactly the _opposite_ of what I wanted at the moment. Lucky for me though, they didn't see my face. Or any other human parts. Otherwise there'd been some _huge_ trouble.

When I screamed and ran the opposite direction, a few of them shouted out to me or tried to follow me. But when I didn't respond they just shrugged their shoulders and went back to their own very important lives.

Once I gathered my senses, I decided that screaming like a maniac wasn't going to get me anywhere, so figured I should probably figure out what the heck was going on.

The first thing that I did was climb a roof. I went up the rain gutter and sat on the top, taking a good look on the city.

The city was _huge,_ much better than my old one. And everything was animal-based. There was even a popular singer that was animal. The city seemed to be split up into several sections depending on the average animal's natural habitat.

With a little further examination, I realized the city was called Zootopia, which was way weirder than it sounded.

Afterward, when I got my bearings, I put up my hoodie and buried my hands deep into my pockets and wandered deep into the crowd, trying to gather whatever information I can.

I caught snippets of gossip, laughter, boring meeting talks, a few top-secret government things, and the normal morning squabble. I may have snatched a few wallets here and there but hey, can you blame a guy?

So from what I gathered, I learned… absolutely nothing. Besides the fact that there was seemingly no humans around.

After all that snooping, I started to get hungry. Usually, I could go to a local dumpster and pick out a few things, but I was new to this town. I didn't know which dumpsters were good or not. I didn't know if the food was even _edible._

So I decided to dine third class. Just for the night.

After slinking around, I found (to my surprise) a pizza place. Deciding you couldn't go wrong with pizza, I walked in.

I knew that it was probably stupid. But stupid ideas were kinda' my thing. I learned that when you're not supposed to be somewhere, _act_ like you own the place.

So I strolled right up to the counter like I've been there a thousand times, ignoring the bewildered looks from those who saw snippets of my hands and face.

After I stared at the menu for a few moments, I knocked on the desk, trying to get the cashier's attention, "Yo! Sheep boy! Get me a pepperoni, would you?"

The sheep mumbled something in response, not looking up at me just yet. He turned to the kitchen and yelled something, and there was a yell back. Only then did the sheep get a good look at me.

I am pleased to say that I scared the pop tarts out of him.

When he saw me, he jumped and backed up against the wall, just staring. I glared, "Is there a problem, sheep boy?"

He jumped again, "O-oh! N-n-nothing at all! _Ahem._ I'm s-s-so sorry, I'm just afraid to say that I've never seen your kind before."

Everyone was staring. My hood was over my face, but I needed to look up in order to look confident, "Yeah, that's not surprising. You see, I had a rare birth defect when I was little. It's called… humasynthesis. Yeah, humasynthesis. It kinda' makes your face go all screwy, ya' know?"

The sheep nodded quickly, "Y-y-yes! Of course! I'm s-s-so sorry! Um, Joe! You have the pep-pepperoni yet?"

"Almost done, Jake!"

Many of the other animals had stopped staring by now, taking the excuse. Only a few of them snuck glances here and there. I ignored them.

The pizza was finally ready, and I forked over the cash. I gave the sheep my 'cute little homeless girl' smile, "Thank you so much."

"Y-yeah, don't mention it."

So I took my pizza and quickly strolled out of the shop. I had to say, that went _way_ better than I expected. Maybe that could become my normal hangout place. Get to know the guys and stuff. After they get used to my face, there shouldn't be any problems.

I stuffed the pizza in my mouth before realizing that the pepperoni was made of fish. At first I was surprised, but then I remembered that pigs walked around on two feet too. The thought of eating humanized pigs made me lose my appetite. I put my pizza in a plastic bag for later.

I'm sure a lot of you are wondering why I was handling it so well. Let me tell you a common rule on the streets: adapt of die. Pretty simple, right? Let me explain.

When you're living on the streets, you need to learn how to adapt. Whether it be harsh weather, new gangs, new patrols, new shops, new cops, new people, or new security cameras, it's adapt, adapt, adapt. Figure things out or die. So you wake up one day in a completely different world? You need to adapt. Can't go around wallowing in confusion or wonderment. That won't get you anywhere. You need to adapt so you can survive. Simple as that.

Don't get me wrong, I was still completely freaked out. I was especially scared of the ginormous lions and bears, but I can't be living in fear. I need to adapt.

So after I got my pizza, it was around mid-day. I needed money. Surprisingly, you usually don't get much pickpocketing. That is, unless you use their credit cards. But that's just mean. I don't do stuff like that. I usually just drop all the wallets in a lost and found somewhere. Doesn't matter where, just somewhere.

Anyways, I needed money, right? I returned to one of the many things I was good at: conning people. I just needed to find something to sell.

As I was walking in an alleyway, I found a trash can full of dead lightbulbs. There was perhaps twenty or so. I smiled. Perfect.

I grabbed the dead lightbulbs and cleaned them the best I can, taping any cracks with Duct Tape (yes, I carry duct tape in my pack). But I just didn't randomly smack on duct tape, I put it in a way so it looked good. Making stripes and zigzags.

Afterward, I walked to the local park and grabbed a bunch of pebbles. I filled up the lightbulbs and made hooks out of some old rusty fishing hooks I found in a fishing tavern. I put the hooks in the holes Duct Taped them on. This all happened maybe under an hour.

Nobody payed much attention to me as I did all of this. That's the upside to modern society. To distracted by phones and winey kids to be worrying about a bum on the street.

After I was done, I stood up and looked at my work. Little Christmas ornaments. And they actually looked pretty good too. The only problem now is selling them in July.

I went to the shadier part of town. The type of place where there's just amount of shady people and stupid people. Around the place where people don't ask questions.

With my hood still down, I set up my little stand. I lined my little lightbulbs on a crate and took out my sharpie marker. I wrote in big, bold letters _XMAS STUFF. GET 'EM EARLY! 60% OFF!_

In case you're wondering, no, it wasn't 60% off. People would buy anything if it's on sale though.

I pulled my hood tightly over my face. I decided that I was going to buy new clothes with the money. A baggier sweatshirt, gloves, sunglasses, ski mask, maybe even a scarf. You know, all those things to make me blend in more.

Trying to keep myself as inconspicuous as possible, I screamed, "CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS! GET IT BEOFRE THE CHRISTMAS RUSH! GET IT BEFORE ALL YOUR NEIGHBORS! IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS! GINORMOUS DISCOUNT!"

As you can see, inconspicuous and screaming don't go well together.

At first, people only gave me odd looks before walking by quickly. I didn't blame them. This was probably the stupidest conning idea I had in a long time. And I doubt my strange outer appearance helped either.

Eventually though, I spotted a target. It was a slim cheetah woman, highly dressed and highly fashioned. I could tell right away that she was a showoff. I pointed at her and yelled, "You! You ma'am! I can tell you are a woman of high class! Never seen anyone else as beautiful as you!"

The woman puffed in pried and walked over, but faltered when she saw my face from under the hood, "What are _you?"_

"I, my good, young ma'am, am a rare species with a birth defect. I can tell you are disgusted by my appearance, and you have a good reason to be so! A woman of your status shouldn't me affiliating with the likes of me."

The woman sniffed and started to walk away, "I should hope so."

"Wait! Before you go, don't you want to be better than all your friends?"

 _That_ caught her attention, "Wh-what?"

"I said, don't you want to be better than all your friends? If so, get your winter decorations early and cheap! Everyone's doing it!"

"But's it's July."

"Christmas in July! You need to get your stuff before the rush and all the prices are jacked! It's really the smart thing to do. Get 'em cheap now so you can relax later."

She walked back over to my crappy little stand, "That sounds surprisingly reasonable."

"That's because it is! It's _way_ reasonable. You'll impress everybody!"

She picked up a lightbulb and studied it. "What's inside it?"

"Oh, just a little secret ingredient of mine. It's imported! Way from the other side of the world! Makes it look really nice and natural, don't you think? Nice and homey."

"Well, imported things certainly is a nice thing to have in the house. Very unique."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, ma'am." She examined the ornaments a little bit longer, and I saw that she was quickly realizing how stupid it was, "But you better hurry. It's 60% off! The price will go back tomorrow. They're simply flying off the shelves at this point. Better get 'em before everybody else."

"How much is it?"

"12 dollars."

"12 dollars?"

"Each."

"Each!? What do I look like to you? A walking piggy bank?"

 _Yes…_ "But that's the point ma'am! It's usually around twenty dollars each! You need to get them before the prices go back up! It's a once in a life time deal! Don't miss out!"

The prospect of missing an opportunity like _that_ seemed to have made up her mind, "In that case, I'll take the whole lot."

My eyes widened. _The whole lot?_ That was better than I could have ever imagined. Let's see… twenty times twelve equals… two hundred and forty dollars! Was this woman mad? I knew instantly that I needed to lower the price tag. If I dropped a bomb _that_ big it would shake her to her senses. I shook off my shock and returned to my business demeanor, "That is an incredibly smart choice ma'am. That way when you decorate, you'll have a nice continuity. A fantastic choice, really. And since you're so smart, I'm gonna' cut you some slack, okay? So, with the discount, it will be two hundred and forty dollars," the woman's eyes widened, "but I'm not going to be that cruel to ya', okay? I'm gonna' give ya' _another_ discount, you know? It will, unfortunately, hurt my business, but that's okay, 'cause I have a feeling you're a smart woman. I'm going to cut the slack, and make it only 195 dollars, ya' know? You're getting a real steal here."

"195 dollars… that's… that's…"

"Look, lady. Take it or leave it. By tomorrow, to buy all of this would be four hundred."

At that thought, her eyes widened and she bought everything. She forked over the money and promptly walked off. And what did I do? I ran, of course.

Once I was out of sight, I did a little victory dance. Was it immature? Yes. But it's not every day that you get _one hundred and ninety-five dollars_ in one sitting! That's like, insane!

So after I did my victory dance, I found a local clothes store and walked in it, pretty confident in my 'birth defect' excuse. I was about 85% sure that I had everything figured out.

So, of course, that's the perfect time for everything to go downhill.

I walked into the store and found the clothes I said before. Glasses, extra-extra baggy clothes, gloves, scarf, and—with some afterthought—a hat.

Nobody noticed me yet. And I acted like I knew exactly what I was doing. Nobody payed me much attention. I walked up to the counter and laid my clothes down. The cashier wasn't paying me any attention at all. She was listening to a Gazelle song on her i-pod. She hummed as she put my clothes into a plastic bag and handed it to me, along with the receipt. "That will be seventy-three dollars m—"she broke off and her eyes widened.

She saw me.

The young employee screamed, backing up against the wall, crying hysterically and pointing at me. I tried to explain my made-up birth defect, but soon other people started to scream. They either looked at me in disgust, horror, or confusion. Soon everyone was in full on panic mode (though I'm pretty sure half of them didn't even know what they were screaming about).

I stood there like an idiot, unsure how to react. I heard crazy rumors begin to spread, and some of the animals were beginning to become hostile. Still, I stood. That was until I heard someone call the police. And if there's one thing on this demented Earth that can get me moving, it's the police.

I grabbed my bag of clothes off the counter and ran, pushing anybody out of my way. I burst out the doors and onto the streets. I could already hear the police sirens.

I ran straight forward into the alley just as the cops surrounded the shop, trying to calm the frenzied mob. I looked backwards, seeing the cops were just as disorganized as the pedestrians around them, I smiled, confident that I got away.

But like I said, that's the best time for things to go downhill.

Two of the cops saw me and broke off from the crowd. My eyes widened and turned left into the busy street. Cars and trucks swerved to avoid me, and a few jaywalkers were forced to jump back to the sidewalks. But the two police guys just kept coming, and one of them was hopping around like a super ninja. I think it was a… bunny?

Seeing the cars weren't helping, I ran onto the sidewalks to the center of the large crowd. Usually, I'm like, super good of losing people in crowds. But that turns out to be way harder in animal crowds, where some of the animals are lower than your knee and you can easily accidently trample them. Not to mention large dangerous polar bears are way harder to push aside than normal humans. That turned out even less useful than the cars.

So that left my last option: alleyways. Alleyways are usually right up my alley (heh heh, I made a pun), but not this time. I didn't know this city. I was in a whole new world, figuratively and literally. I could run myself into a corner if I wasn't careful. But it was my only option. I turned into the first alleyway I saw. And you know what happened? I ran myself into a corner.

I tried to turn around but the cops were already there. And they were perhaps the strangest pair of cops I've ever seen. A fox and a bunny. Now _that's_ a pair you don't see every day.

The bunny was standing up confident and holding out her badge, while the fox was doubled over, gasping for breath.

"How are… you mammals… so fast?"

"Suck it up Nick."

"Whatever… you say… Carrots. Just don't mind me… dying… over here."

The bunny and foxed looked up at me in unison, which I thought was kinda' cute. Both of their eyes widened in surprise. The fox spoke first, "Are you even mammal?"

The bunny elbowed him and got over her initial shock, "We are Officers Hopps and Wilde, part of the ZPD, Zootopia Police Department. I am afraid we need to take you in."

At this point, I was thoroughly freaked out. But I knew I couldn't let it show. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to breath for a few moments, gathering my scattered nerves. When I opened my eyes, I put on a relaxed smile, "Under what charges? Looking different?"

"Under suspected criminal activity, suspected participation in illegal cross breeding, being a breakthrough of a new species, and stealing that bag of clothes," she pointed at the bag I was carrying, "you will come quickly and quietly, miss…?"

"Wise. Emily Wise. And from what I can tell, nearly all of that is suspicions without proof, cops jumping to conclusions, and misunderstandings. You see, I was born with a rare birth defect called humasynthesis, thank you very much. And I will gladly pay for this apparently 'stolen' shopping bag right here and now."

The fox yawned and stretched, "If you think that's gonna' convince Carrots to get off your case, you're dumber than you look."

The bunny and me ignored him, "In order to prove your apparent birth defect, we will need to see identification and/or a birth certificate. Otherwise we will need to take you in, by force if necessary."

Wow, this cop was good. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have an identification and/or a birth certificate. I wasn't even sure if my parents went through the trouble to _get_ me one. As far as I could tell, I was born in an apartment. I would be highly surprised if they went to the doctors and filed everything out. But I couldn't tell this rabbit that. I pretended to look through my pockets, and then my pack, trying to buy myself time. The bunny had seemed to realize that I had no identification. She turned to her walkie talkie attached to her shoulder, "Requesting backup in Jumpturn Alley, 843 Elkmore Street. We have the target, I repeat, we have the target…"

The fox, meanwhile, started to get in a defensive stance. I had a feeling he knew what I was doing better than the rabbit.

I let go of my pack, allowing it to swing back to my shoulders, "Sorry, seems like I forgot my stuff at home. Now if you just let me through I'll be able to get my stuff and show you my—"

The fox held his paw over his dart gun, "We both know that you don't have an identification, Wise Guy."

"Oh. Haha. I see what you did there. Hilarious. See how hard I'm laughing right now? Hahaha. Ha."

The bunny took out a pair of miniature handcuffs, "Please cooperate and put your hands behind your back, ma'am."

I pretended to play along. I walked over slowly with my hands above my head, and then turned around, placing them behind my back. The fox relaxed and folded his arms, hands far away from the dart gun.

And that, my good sirs and ma'ams, is when you make your move.

I kicked the fox in the stomach and pushed over the bunny. And then I ran (again). If they were normal cops, I wouldn't have been able to do that. But it's a fox and bunny for crying out loud. They're about as tall as my waist (if you count the ears)!

So I sprinted across the street and up an old fire escape ladder. When I reached the top, I desperately searched for a place to hide. I ran to the edge of the roof and saw a window sill I could climb onto. I felt my stomach lurch as I eased my way down, but then I heard two very cranky personages climbing up the ladder. And if there's one thing that scares me more than the thought of falling to my death, it's cops.

Especially angry ones,

So I curled up in the window sill (it was luckily a very wide window sill) and held my breath. I heard the footsteps stop above me.

"Where'd she go?" asked the fox angrily.

"I don't know. Check the premises."

They started moving boxes and crates around on the rooftop. I was suddenly very glad for hiding on a window sill.

To my left, I heard sirens and the screeching of cars.

"Officer Hopps! Officer Wilde! Where is the suspect?" a gruff voiced yelled from below. I couldn't see them from the angle of the building and hopefully, they couldn't see me.

"I don't know Chief! It's like she disappeared!" the bunny replied.

"She?"

"Yes, I am fairly certain it was a girl."

"Fan the area, men! Search for her! Hoppes and Wilde! Come down here and tell me what you have figured out."

"Whatever you say, Chief," the fox sighed. I heard the groan of the ladder as they climbed back down.

After I was certain they reached the bottom, I looked for an escape route. The apparent Chief ordered his men to search the area, and it wouldn't take them long to look where I was. Shushing the butterflies in my stomach, I climbed down the building, one window sill at a time. Luckily for me, the animals who resided in it were mostly all at work. Whenever I started to get cold feet, I just imagined myself being a super ninja on a special spy mission, and if I messed up, the planet would explode.

Did it help? No, not at all. But it was fun anyways.

Finally, I reached the last sill. I jumped to the bottom and landed on some trash bags for cushioning. Literally, cushioning. The bags were filled with old cushions.

 _This is a good business opportunity,_ I thought. But then I heard voices. "But not right now."

So, for what felt like the billionth time that day, I sprinted through the alleyways. After reaching what I felt like was a safe distance, I leaned against the wall and finally let myself take a breather. Only then did I fully comprehend what happened. It all came crashing down on me all at once. So what did I do? I laughed.

I laughed so hard I thought that my cheeks would rip.

It wasn't a 'haha' laugh, it was more a laugh of hysteria. I just couldn't help it. I mean, I just escaped a _rabbit_ and a _fox,_ both in which were wearing these adorable police outfits. How many people can say that? I couldn't wait to tell the guys at hom—

But then I remembered that I wouldn't be going home. That I was (technically) dead. My maniacal laughter stopped suddenly, and slid down the wall into a sitting position. It was like my entire body just… deflated. I was in a world, full of animals. I was hardly there for a day, and already a wanted fugitive. Everybody would be looking for me now. Nobody would ever accept me. I was now officially Freak #1.

Yippee.

Before I could sink into further depression, my stomach rumbled. Grateful for the distraction, I unzipped my backpack and took out my pepperoni pizza. It was now lukewarm. I pulled out the pizza and tossed the now greasy bag. It took me about ten seconds flat to devour it. And I was still hungry.

Licking my fingers, I stood up. I decided that being a little hungry wouldn't hurt anything. The hunger pains would distract me.

Another rule from the streets: distractions are good. It keeps you from thinking about how messed up your life is.

And my life is certainly messed up.

Picking up my pack and bag of clothes, I noticed how late it was getting. The next order of operation: finding a place to sleep.

I wandered around the city a bit, making sure to keep my hood up the entire time. I eventually found an empty dumpster between two abandoned buildings. It looked like it hadn't been used in ages. But it still stunk just as bad.

I broke the rusty lock keeping it closed and looked inside. After a bit of deciding, I deemed it livable. For now, at least.

I put on my handy new gloves and cleared out some of the crap still stuck on the edges. Then I took out my own lock and bicycle chain and threaded it through so that the lock was on the inside (yes, I had a bike once).

After I was satisfied with my work, I bundled myself up in my new clothes and used my backpack as a pillow.

As weird as it was, I found it sorta' comforting, you know? Just to be sleeping alone in a dumpster. Just like any normal day at home. I could almost imagine that I was not in an animal-ruled world.

Almost.

After fluffing up my backpack one last time, I laid my head down and zonked out immediately.

 **So... yeah. It's a** ** _little different_** **writing style than we're used to, but I think I did okay, right?**

 **Well, anyways, please, please, please review. I'm going for reviews for this fic, not follows or favs. Even if you have absolutely no insight at all, it's always good to get reviews. At least I know you liked it enough to review, right? So... yeah. Thank you in advance!**

 **Don't own Zootopia, but I do own the OC.**


	2. I'm completly ordinary! But, not really

**Wow. I was** ** _not_** **expecting so many reactions so quickly. It was like my inbox exploded. Let's answer some stuff.**

 **Anon (Guest): Thank you!**

 **Nick (Guest): Thank you so much! Your review made me so happy! And thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate it! (And I laughed when I saw your name was actually Nick. I found that really funny for some reason.)**

 **Mayun: I'm glad to see you're liking this writing style as much as I am. XD**

 **Guest: Here's another!**

 **Slayer911: Turns out I was enjoying this way more than I thought I would, so that equals more chapters. Still unsure if I'll ever finish this, but I'm having fun. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter!**

 **hellzome25: I kept it coming.**

 **treena1996: Well... I already answered your question in a PM, so not much to say here...**

 **Hopefully I got everybody! Again, I'm looking for feedback. I'm hoping to write a book someday and feedback is highly appreciated. If there's something bothering you, please let me know! But I also really like normal reviews too so if don't feel pressured to include feedback in your reviews.**

 **Now! On with the story!**

 _ **EDIT: (First-time readers to this story, DO NOT READ) Okay, I changed ONE thing in here. Something in Jake's dialogue about why he's helping Emily. The reason I did this is because A) it supports his reasoning better and B) it might be important to the story later. Idk. Still deciding. But I just thought I'd let you long-term readers know if you happened to get an alert for this edit.**_

I woke to the sweet smell of dumpster and the beautiful sound of hobos panhandling on the sidewalk.

That was sarcasm, if you didn't know.

Yawning, I stretched and heard a satisfying _pop_ in my back. Smacking the morning aftertaste from my mouth, I slowly got dressed into my new clothes.

First I put on the sweatpants and overly-large hoodie. I placed sunglasses on my face and tucked all my hair under my hat with a hair band. I put on gloves and considered the scarf, but then I remembered it was June and I'd be roasting as it was. After packing up the rest of the things, I pulled up my hood over my baseball cap and emerged from the dumpster.

Despite all the clothes and proof, I was still clinging onto the meek hope of it being nothing more than some crazy hallucination induced from too much garbage food. But that hope was soon demolished as soon as I walked onto the main street. Animals everywhere. But that wasn't the only problem. My face was everywhere too.

There was posters, fliers, newspapers, electric billboards, and a billion other things, all featuring a fuzzy picture of me standing in the store with a shopping bag of clothes. Some stupid bastard must have snapped a picture throughout all that panic.

Great.

I saw a TV store across the street and rushed to it, hoping to find one featuring a news channel. Turns out they all were featuring news channels. I focused my attention on the one with the tiger and polar bear.

"—the shocking encounter yesterday. Local heroes Officer Hopps and Wilde tried to capture this strange new creature, but it evaded their grasp. The creature claimed it was born with a strange birth defect called humasynthesis, but it was soon proven that no such syndrome exists. We—oh. What was that?" the female tiger touched the earpiece in her ear, "We will now cut to a live interview with the ZPD."

The scene cut to a burly ox in a police uniform, "We do not know who or what this creature is, or whether it poses a threat to Zootopia and its inhabitants. But all our forces are now searching for this strange creature and we are using everything in our power to stop it."

A rush of voices came in at once, and the ox pointed to someone off screen, "Yes, the pig there with the glasses."

"Do you believe that this creature could be an alien or some sort of escaped science experiment from the government?"

I saw the ox roll his eyes, "Those are no more than conspiracy rumors and paranoia. Cheetah, front row."

"What do you know of it and does it present a threat to our society?"

"All we know is that it appears to be female and it seems to be intelligent. Sheep."

"What do you plan to do with the beast once it is captured?"

"We plan to hand it over to our research team and we will learn all that we can about this thing. Hippo, two rows back."

"It is rumored that the ZPD tried to cover everything up at the first sighting. Is it true and if so, why is that?"

I walked away before the ox could answer. I had heard enough at that point. _It? Thing? Creature? Beast?_ I wasn't the animal around here! And I knew exactly what they meant by _learning all that we can._ I was basically an alien to them. I would probably be shut up in a top-secret research facility and cut a million pieces. I've seen enough sci-fi films to know where this was headed, thank you very much.

Shouldering my pack angrily, and stormed away from the screens. But my steps faltered when a new threat rose to my mind. _How will I survive?_

Everybody knew of me now. I couldn't take a trip to the store like I did yesterday anymore. I can't do dealings off the streets. I can't even socialize. If even one person saw me, _BAM!_ SWAT Team at two o'clock. The garbage can only do so much. How would I ever live? I mean, I guess during the winters, I could wrap a scarf around my face and then put on sunglasses, but what would I do during the summers? Wear a ski mask? _Ha!_ As if. I was pushing it with the gloves as it is.

No more public transportation either. Subways and busses? Nuh-uh. No cabs either. I'll have to do everything on foot. Somebody would notice me if I stood suspiciously to the side in a bus with my weird clothes. 'Specially with all the paranoia.

I was stuck. And scared. Really scared.

And when I'm scared, I pickpocket. It's a nervous habit of mine.

So I joined the flow of the crowds and swiped the little piggy leathers. Left and right. Up and down. I was swift. Like the wind. **(A/N Please tell me someone gets that reference)**

So after I gathered the daily pocket change, I was hungry again. And I found myself in front of that pizza place from yesterday.

I contemplated whether or not to go in. Sheep boy knew me, right? We were cool, right?

I remembered yesterday how I was hoping that'd it could become my hangout. I used to have a few in my old city. A few places where'd I go and the cashiers would give me free food and we'd just talk. It was nice to have friends. I was hoping that maybe this could be 'my place' too?

But sheep boy would be scared of me now. I didn't even know if he was working today or not. And even if he was, he'd call the police the first moment he saw me.

I groaned in frustration, _Why must my life be so difficult?_

I was about to walk away but then I saw the side door open. Sheep boy was taking out the trash. My mind flicked through the possibilities.

On one hand, I could catch him alone in the alley way and somehow get on good grounds with him. But on the other hand, he could scream in my face and call the police. Two very different results.

But I knew if I were to do it, I would need to act now. Who knows when I would get another chance like this? I needed to do it before the terrifying conspiracy rumors spread. And there was still the chance he hadn't seen the news yet.

Better to try and fail than go the rest of my life wondering what could have happened, right?

Shoulder my pack, I stealthily followed the sheep behind the building. He threw the trash into dumpster and wiped his hooves, contemplating his work. I nervously stood behind him nervously for a few seconds before raising a hand, "Umm, hey there, sheep boy. Remember me?"

The sheep turned around and searched frantically for who spoke. Then he rested his eyes on me.

To my surprise, he didn't scream.

But he _did_ let out some sort of surprised bleat.

We stared at each other in shocked silence for a few seconds, and then he spoke, "You're the… you're th-the…"

"The weird creature beast thing?" I offered.

He nodded his head, "Th-the po-police qu-questioned m-m-me yesterday. Said if I s-s-saw you again, I should-d call," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a flip phone.

Yep. He definitely watched the news.

"Wait wait wait wait wait wait! Please don't call them! Wasn't I nice yesterday?"

His legs shook, "Th-that was before you attacked Officer H-Hopps and W-W-Wilde."

Oh, cheese and crackers. The rumors were already flying. I never attacked the—oh. Wait a moment. I guess I did attack them, didn't I?

Whoops.

"I didn't _attack_ them. I just sorta' did… self-defense?"

The sheep didn't look convinced. With a shaking hoof, he dialed the first number.

"Wait man! Please don't! It was all a big misunderstanding!"

Second number.

"I'm not dangerous! Or an alien!"

Third number.

"What would _you_ have done?"

Enter.

"I need your help!" I finally cried.

The phone was being raised to his ear, but he stopped midway. "Wh-what?"

"I… I need your help," I repeated shamefully. I hated asking for help.

Sheep boy stared at me. There was a tiny buzz of chatter coming from his phone. "Why… why w-would you need _my_ help?"

"I'm all alone," I stated, "and everybody hates me."

A few more moments of agonizing, awkward staring. I felt my heart beating in my throat as I waited for his decision. Finally, he sighed and cancelled the call. I stared in shock.

The sheep pocketed his phone and turned towards me, "Fine. I'll help you. But no… no f-funny business! And… I want t-to know what y-you are."

I did a fist pump in the air, "Yes! Yes! Thank you so much!" I did a short victory dance and nearly hugged the sheep, but then remembered how much I hated hugs. So I pushed him instead.

"Hey!" he yelled and groped for his phone, "Wh-what was… what was that f-f-for!?"

"That was for… nearly calling the police!" I helped him up and brushed him off. "What's your name, sheep boy?"

"Y-you first."

"My name's Emily Wise. And don't you dare make any puns out of it. You?"

"Uhh… Jacob."

"Jake huh? Well, that's an odd thing to call a sheep. What's with the eyes? You look like a flipping squid."

"Haven't you ever seen a sheep before?" Jacob asked.

"Nope!" I replied cheerfully, "So why'd you help me, anyways?"

"You know of th-that savage thing that happened l-last year, right?" Jake asked. Before I could answer, he continued, "Well, ever s-since then, things have been harder for us sheep. Everyone's suspicious. Me and my un-uncle… it's been really hard on him too. He was a scientist, see. And, well… nobody would take his p-p-petitions or anything. It's better now though, he found somebody who w-would take him and I was hired. But for a w-while there I couldn't get a job. I couldn't pay for my college and I went into a lot of d-debt. So I g-guess what I'm s-s-saying is… I know what it is l-like to be shunned for appearance."

I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but I decided to play along. "Yep. Life's rough."

"So… Emily… what are you?"

"I'm a human," I explained, "I'm a bit… heh heh… far from home, as you can say."

"Where's home?"

"Defiantly not wherever this is."

"So… where is it?"

"A place I can't get to."

"Oh," Jake looked far from satisfied, but he thankfully didn't press it any further, "Are y-you an alien thing th-that came t-to suck out our brains?"

I crossed my arms, "Do I look like I wanna' suck out your brains?"

"… No."

"Well good, because I don't."

"Are y-you an alien?"

I furrowed my brows, "I don't… think so? It's all very complicated. But I'm not here to hurt ya' or anything. In fact, it looks like you all wanna' hurt me."

Jacob was about to say something else, but there was a yell from inside. Jake jumped, "Uh oh. That's my b-boss. I need to hurry. Is th-there anything I should get you?"

 _"_ _Actually,_ now that you mention it," I pulled out a wad of cash, "can you get me another pepperoni?"

The sheep stared at the money for a bit before breaking into a relieved grin, "Yeah… I th-think I can do that for you. Expect it on the s-side steps in thir-thirty minutes or less."

And with one last wave, he took the money and rushed back inside. I smiled to myself, "He seems nice."

And so I waited by the side steps, careful to keep outta' sight. Finally, the door opened and out slid a pepporoni. Jake's face poked out, "Emma?" he hissed, _"Emma?"_

I rolled my eyes and came out of my hiding spot, "Its Emily, doofus."

He jumped at my sudden appearance, but then shook his head, "Sorry. Um… I got you a pizza," Jacob motioned towards the pizza at his feet.

"Great! Thanks Jake!" I snatched the plate and was about to run off, but then he spoke.

"Um… sorry, b-but will you be coming back?"

I shrugged, "Maybe every once in a while. What days to you work?"

"Mondays through Thursdays. Between four and seven."

"Alrighty then! Thanks for the help! Don't tip off the police please!" and before he could respond, I was off into the dusk. I felt as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I wasn't alone anymore. I had help.

I had a friend.

 _Great,_ I thought, _I'm getting all mushy. Hardly knew the guy for a day. Stop being stupid,_ I told myself.

But no matter what I did, I couldn't stop smiling.

 _I have a friend._

 **So... that's that. I hope I kept her in character all the way. And don't worry! I'm not going to make Jake a super main guy in the story! He's just, well... super important right now. I mean, Emily needed to get help from** ** _some_** **body, right? And who better than a random sheep I introduced one chapter before? At least he didn't appear out of no where.**

 **And well... that's that, I guess. Reviews and feedback and criticism is** ** _highly_** **appreciated. Hope this writing style stayed consistent and wasn't annoying. It's the first time in a long while since I wrote like this. So yep! Please review guys! Thank you in advance! Buh-bye!**

 **Don't own Zootopia, but I do own the OCs.**


	3. Chapter 3: I am Definatly an Idiot

**ThisChapterIsSoBadWhyAmIEvenPostingItOkayTimeToAnswerNow.**

 **Anon: Me too. XD**

 **Nick: Well, I'm glad** ** _you_** **are liking it okay. I'm just hoping that I don't fall short.**

 **Mayun: Well, I'll try to stay above 200 words per scene then XD, but I can't promise about 3000-4000. I tried to do that this chapter. Wrote six whole freaking pages. Still fell short. DX**

 **Anonymoose: Whoops! Super sorry about that! I could have SWORN I labeled it. In fact, I specifically remember doing that... ah well... fixed it now. But I know where you're coming from. I'm not super fond of OC stories either, which I guess makes me a hypocrite.**

 **slayer911: Oh my gosh! Way sorry about that! Yeah, I know that wasn't very good, but I'll just say again that this isn't my natural writing style. I keep trying to revert back but then I catch myself and then it turns into one big mess. Way sorry. If you feel like this is just getting worse and worse, don't feel pressured to keep reading or anything.**

 **Mary: Thank you Mary!**

 **Guest: I'll take that as a good thing!**

 **Luck out: Hi again!**

 **SilentAngel33: Well, I'm glad you're liking Emily. And as for how she's not an idiot... well... keep in mind that she IS a teenager, and so she won't always be top-notch in later chapters. XD**

 **Alright then! This chapter is terrible! Enjoy peeps!**

It happened the day afterwards. When I really got to know what people thought of me. I was sitting on top of the roof of the pub. Probably really stupid, I know. But if you haven't noticed, I make lots of stupid mistakes.

I was eating an apple. A perfectly good apple that was resting at the very top (in a cute little plastic bag mind you) of someone's trash. It wasn't even expired. It was amazing the types of things people throw away.

But any who, I was on top of the pub, eating my perfectly perfect apple, enjoying the view. It was a very nice view. I could see all of the night sky from where I was sitting. Well… not that there was a lot of things to see. The pollution covered most of it up. But it was still pretty to look at.

I stifled a yawn and laid back on the roof. It was a slanted roof, with real tiles and everything. A nice little pub with the night sky above me and a half-eaten apple in my hand. It felt real nice just to sit there and stare out into space. Makes you remember how little you really are. Some people might find it creepy, but to me it was always comforting, ya' know? Nice to know no matter how big your problems are, no matter how messed up your life is, there's always something bigger than you. If Earth was a teeny weeny little spec in the universe, then what are you?

And right when I started to get thinking real deep, I was grounded back to reality. Literally and figuratively. The tile broke and down I went. Down off the roof and onto the ground. Luckily, it was a very short roof, but I screamed anyway.

Fell off the roof, screamed, and landed right next to the front doorway.

The doorway full of drunk guys.

This is the part where I say whoopsie, but this is much bigger than a whoopsie. It's more like a… poopsie.

But here's the good news: I landed on my back, which had my backpack. I hardly felt a thing. Bad news: Everyone heard me scream.

There were several yells and scuffling from inside, and the door burst open. There were pigs, goats, those weird gerbil things, foxes, and… huge carnivores. With big pointy teeth and… shiny claws.

And they all saw me. They saw me head on. My hood was down and my hat fell off. I tried to swallow my nerves. "H-hey guys!" I stood up and brushed off my hat, "Nice… weather, right? You c-can even see a f-f-few stars!" I gave them a smile, and they stared at me blankly. I clapped my hands together, "Welp! Nice meetin' ya'll, but I really sh-should be going so—"

"It's the monster!"

"Get it!"

 _That's my cue to leave._ I bolted and they all followed in pursuit, screaming and yelling and hollerin'. I just ran for my life. Beer bottles and rocks flew past me as I ran.

"Come back here ya' little freak!"

"Crawl back to the dump disposal where you belong!"

"You disgusting creature!"

 _"_ _You worthless girl!"_

 _"_ _You're nothing but a burden!"_

 _"_ _Come back here so I can wring that pretty little neck of yours!"_

I squeezed my eyes shut and ran faster. All the shouts and screams blended together. Some of them real, some of them memories.

"It's the killer!"

"String it up the nearest tree!"

 _"_ _Where are you runnin' to?"_

"Can't hide from us!"

 _"_ _Disgusting little slime ball!"_

"You monster!"

"Kill it!"

 _"_ _I'll kill you!"_

I let out a blood curdling scream and covered my ears as I ran. _No more no more nomorenomorenomorenomoreNOMORE_!

I turned into the first alleyway I saw and ducked into some abandoned crates, trying to block out the yells and insults and frankly, just really acting like a huge wimp. They ran past me, stumbling and tripping and cussing. They flowed through the alleyway like bulldozers, knocking everyone and everything outa' their way.

"Monster!"

"Creature!"

 _"_ _Filth!"_

 _"_ _Scumbag!"_

I curled up in my pathetic crate, feeling tears slip down my cheeks. I was remembering things I didn't want to remember. Reliving things I never shoulda' lived through. The animals trampled throughout the alleyway. Every word stung. _Creature. Monster. It. Thing. Dangerous. Filth._

Eventually though, the shouts and screamings died out, and I was all alone. But still I stayed in my little crate, crying my eyes out. I did a lotta' bad things in my life, and I spent a lot of time convincin' myself that it was for a good cause. That I had no other choice. That I was really a good person. But now I lived in a whole world that basically hated my guts. Everybody thought I was bad and evil. And even though I was acting pretty cool about it and I've only been there for a few days, it's been bothering me a lot. Usually, I try to ignore my negative emotions. But I just had everything thrown back into my face at one moment. Along with a lot of… other things that I try to forget.

It was slightly overwhelming.

But if you're thinking I'm a baby right now, you have every right to think so. I was being a total wimp. But anyways, let's get back to the story.

Sniffling, I finally stood up in my crate and wiped my eyes, trying to tell myself to stop being a wuss. I ran my hand through my hair and placed my hat back on.

I climbed out of my crate and started walking back 'home'. And on my way back, I came to one, solid, conclusion:

Zootopia sucks.

 **. . .**

I was sitting by the pizza place during lunch hours, talking to Jake.

"So y-you really escaped all those guys? The police s-s-said it was just some folks that g-g-got a little too crazy!"

I smirked pridefully, "Well, I guess when the 'creature' mysteriously disappears without a trace, a drunk guy's tale doesn't seem so realistic anymore."

"How'd y-you do it? You know," he leaned forward dramatically and whispered, _"disappear?"_

I took a bite out from my pizza and shrugged, "Ah, it was nothing really. I hardly noticed they were looking for me."

That was true. I had no idea the police sent out a search party for me. But I wasn't about to tell him that.

Sheep boy looked up at me in awe, "Th-that's awesome."

I snickered at his astonishment, "Yep, I _am_ pretty cool."

They ate in silence for a bit.

"Hey. Can I ask you somethin'?"

Jake nodded.

"Why do you always stutter? You know you don't have to be afraid of me anymore, right?"

If sheep could blush, Jacob defiantly would have. "I d-d-don't know wh-what you're t-talking about."

"Pfft. Yeah right. C'mon Jake, if you're still scared of me, that's okay. I can get pretty intimidating."

Jake shook his head quickly, "N-no! No! I'm not _scared_ of you, Emily! I'm just… it's j-just… I've always had a little bit of trouble with my speech. I wanted to g-get speech therapy l-l-lessons when I was younger, but my mom thought it was silly to waste a th-thousand dollars on speech. Which… I guess it is," he looked down, embarrassed. I rolled my eyes.

"Ah jeez, Jake. Don't be embarrassed about it. I knew lots of guys with stutters! Hillbilly Jill, Crazy Al, Miss Martin, Old Man Squint, that one dude with the stray cats… I can go on forever! Don't know why you're making this such a big deal," I couldn't get why he was acting all weird about it. I mean… it's just plain silliness.

Jake looked at me hopefully, "You really think so?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Jacob shrugged again, "All the kids in m-my school thought it w-was a big deal."

 _Oh… so_ that's _where it came from. Hmf. Stupid bullies._ "Ah well. Don't beat yourself up for something you can't help. It's just silliness and you're just acting real stupid right now."

The sheep cracked a tired grin, "Y-yeah… I guess you're right."

And we once again ate in silence.

"St-still can't believe you evaded an entire _squadron_ of cops."

 **. . .**

For the rest of the day, I was absolutely bored out of my mind.

Jacob's break eventually ended, and I had to go. I had absolutely nothing to do, and as a result, I got bored.

And when I'm bored, I do stupid things.

I missed conning. And I missed it with a passion. It was one of the only things I was good at. Everywhere I looked, there was an opportunity, and I just _couldn't do it._ It made me want to rip my hair out. But luckily, I was able to distract myself with other things, like running from the cops and whatnot. I was able to resist the urge to con.

 _Until now._

I just couldn't take it anymore. I was so bored! I needed to do _some_ thing!

So I finally came to the conclusion to at _least_ work on a conning idea, ya' know? Just to get the creative juices out and flowing. I searched around town for a few hours, but couldn't find a thing. It was one of those times where when you _don't_ need something, you see it _everywhere,_ but as soon as you _do_ need it, it's like… nowhere.

Super annoying.

That happens to me quite a lot, actually. Like once, dad needed the remote, and I had it last. I looked _everywhere,_ but I just couldn't find it. So he—

Actually… no. That's not a very nice story. Um, well, there was this _other_ time, when I owed one of the gangs for a little deal I did. I kept saying to myself, _don't lose the package. Don't lose the package. Don't lose the package._ And you know what happened? I lost the package. And they ended up chasing me down with rocks and… umm…

Heh heh.

You know what? Let's just get back to the story.

So I was way anxious. It was like my brain just stopped working. Which is super ironic because it was going at like, _a billions miles per hour_ only a few minutes before. Just when I was about to give up, I had an idea.

Remember those cushions I talked about a few chapters back? No? Well, I landed on them when I jumped from a window. Yep. Fun times.

But anyways, I ran over to see if they were still there. And sure enough, there they were. I took as many as I could carry and lugged them over to my sweet little garbage bin. After sorting them all out, I then came to my next challenge: making something new out of them.

At first it seemed pretty hopeless. I mean, what was I supposed to do with a bunch of stinky old couch cushions? All they had was cloth and stuffing and springs and—

 _The springs!_

I instantly dismantled the cushions, pulling apart the fabric and stuffing. Some of the cushions had springs, others did not. I only payed attention to the springs. It took me a while to locate all of them, but once I did, I knew it would be all worth it. After I located all the springs, I wrapped the shredded cloth around them so that they looked like faded cylinders more than anything. I put cute little smiley-faces on the top with my marker.

Next thing I needed was boxes. Short, small, cardboard boxes.

Pfft. That was easy. Do you know how many random cardboard boxes fill the streets? Like, a lot. The only hard part was finding the ones that weren't completely rotted through. But even then, it didn't take long.

Then I took out my duct tape. I duct taped all around those little cubes. Inside, outside, underneath, leaving only the flaps on the top open.

After that, I stuffed in the decorative springs and tied red ribbon around it to keep it shut. And by ribbon, I mean those rope/string things that are used to tie trash bags shut.

By the end, I had three black presents wrapped in a nice red ribbon. Or at least, that's what it looked like. What it really was is a prank. You see, it—what? You already know what it does? Well… um… to bad. I'm going to tell you anyways.

So anywho, when you open the present, a whole bunch of smiley-snakes jump out at you! Ha ha!

…

Yeah… it sounded way cooler in my head.

But you gotta' admit, I didn't do too bad considering the things I started out with. That's like, a huge stretch from cushions. If you haven't noticed yet, I'm into making things. Not machinery and stuff, but more like… what do you call it? Arts and crafts? I know, I know. Sounds super wimpy and baby-ish, but that's the closest term I can think of for what I'm doing. I could call it 'recycling', but that doesn't seem quite right either.

And I know that somebody is going to read this, and come up with a hundred fancy yet obvious terms that would make me look stupid. And I don't care. Keep your fancy school-words to yourself, please.

So anyways, I was finally done with my little project. I then took the gutted cushions and re-stuffed them, filling the holes with tape. I could use it for bedding. Sleeping on metal with a backpack for a pillow gives you a surprising amount of cramps.

It took maybe a few hours total, but I was finally finished.

And I was bored again.

The little row of boxes stared at me mockingly. They could fetch a pretty penny if only I could sell them. If only my stupid face wasn't there, everything would be fine.

Then another brilliant idea popped into my head.

What if I became Muslim?

Yes, I know that sounds like, way racist of me or whatever. But I have a reason.

Muslims wear those headscarf things, right? And those headscarves cover up, like, all of your face. I can just wrap my scarf around my face and hope that the Muslim religion exist with in Zootopia. I think they believe in evolution, so maybe not… but then again, they do celebrate Christmas.

But before I go on, I need to say that I am not trying to offend anyone out there. It's just a matter of life and death. Awkward situations, am I right?

So like after a hundred tries, I finally got it around my flipping face. And I'm still pretty sure I got it wrong. And heck, I was using a thick wool scarf, so it would have looked funky even if I _did_ do it right.

I placed my glasses over my eyes and gathered my prank boxes. I confidently climbed out of my poor excuse for a home and walked toward the main street. I was so excited. I could finally con again! I could finally get back into the business. Earn some money without stealing. Actually feel like I earned my keep. This was great! This was wonderful! This was fantastic! This was…

I caught my reflection in a window as I walked by and stopped to adjust the scarf.

This was… this was…

After I was done with that, I took a step back and checked the rest of my outfit.

This was…

My baggy sweatshirt hung just above my knees.

This was…

I was wearing sneakers and glasses. I held three duct-taped boxes in my hands.

This was…

This was just sad.

I felt myself deflate and I dropped my boxes. Who was a kidding? This disguise would never work. All I would do was get myself caught, and for what? Just to prove that I can live the way I could before? That I didn't need anyone's help?

I shook my head. _Nobody was going to buy my stupid boxes anyway._ I gave the ground a half-hearted kick before stooping down and gathering my pathetic boxes.

Defeated, I pouted back to my dump and took a nap.

 **Sorry about the crappy chapter. Don't feel pressured to keep reading if you find it lacking or anything. I'm trying my hardest, but this is definitely not my natural style. And yeah, don't know when I'll update again. Sorry for the long wait though. I had testing. But I'll try to get the next one in by the next few weeks or so.**

 **Don't own Zootopia.**


	4. Chapter4: Does This make Me a Terrorist?

**Hey peeps! I'm alive and back! I have a feeling this is going to be one of those 'slow update' fics. But at least slow fics have long chapters, right? Heh heh *laughs nervously and looks at short chapter*. Ahem. Anyway, I'm alive and that's all the matters. Time to answer reviews now.**

 **SilentAngel33: Oh yes! They can definatly be smart! I'm a teen myself XD. Get As and Bs. Just sayin' that when it comes to thinking things through, we don't always make the wisest decisions... or at least, that what it seems to be with some of my friends. XD**

 **slayer911: heheh, yep. Hope I didn't offend anybody with that...**

 **DerpyNerd280: Oh thank you! I'm really trying my best to keep it that way. :)**

 **Nick: Oh, I think she would have LOVED if ya' bought her pathetic little boxes. This chapter is a little shorter, but has more action, so... hope that makes up for it.**

 **The Reviewer: Well, duh! Humor aint' the main thing in here. Just a side factor.**

 **Kk: Whoops! Hope I didn't spoil anything for you! And I think I know what book you're talking about... But yep! Glad you're liking it so far! And see the movie. It's WAY good.**

 **Jack905: :D *Evil laughter*** ** _So_** **fun...**

 **So yep! I think that's it! Enjoy this chapter, peeps!**

Well, I'm still alive and breathing. At least, I think I am. The whole prospect of life really got confusing for me since I died. But the point is I didn't die a second time. Wanna' hear my highlight of the day? No? Well… I don't really care. You're going to listen anyways. If you don't want to listen then go away. I'm the one writing this thing, not you.

So anyways, it has been a whole week since my 'First Sighting'. That's what people have been calling it. The 'First Sighting'. And it's been my only sighting too (besides the Pub Sighting, but nobody was about to believe a bunch of drunk guys). But that was all about to change.

I woke up early, in the dumpster. The same dumpster I've been telling you guys about. It's really starting to grow on me. And so anyways, I woke up early and unlocked the lock. I packed up all my stuff and put on my usual attire. I was planning on going to Jake's pizza. I didn't have any money, so I wasn't getting any pizza. I just wanted to hang out during his lunch hours. I needed some socialization.

I slid through the crowds like water. I didn't pickpocket anything, due to the fact that I needed to keep a low profile. If you pickpocket too many times in the same place people start to figure things out and you'll pickpocket yourself into a corner.

It was about a fifteen minutes' walk, and it wasn't even noon. I quickly realized that I wasn't even _inside_ his work hours yet, so I resolved to come back later.

Not having much to do, I decided that today would be a good day to scout the city. If I was going to survive, I needed to learn what I call GRASS: Gangs, Rings, Alleyways, Systems, and Security. All very important things. I probably only got one-and-a-half down. The Security and Alleys. The Security is pretty high up. The cops are really good and all the security cameras are functioning perfectly. I already located most of the cameras, and I can avoid cops if I knew the alleyways. But I only got that half figured out. But everything else? Gangs? Rings? System? Don't know anything about it.

Well… actually, that's not entirely true. I do know the main ring leader. Mr. Big. The notorious super-villain guy. But he doesn't really count. _Everybody_ knows about him.

First things first: I needed to learn about the alley ways. If I learn about those, I can avoid all of the others. So I started strolling through the city, making a mental map in my head. I ran into a bajillion dead-ends and a zillion gangs, but that was good. I soon learned where the gangs' territories were. I figured out good hiding places, escape routes, where to go, where _not_ to go, and I even accidently found a secret black market and a working disposable camera (which I kept).

All of the mapping took about three hours, and I only got about a quarter of the city. And I just mean the city part. I haven't even started on the other habitats. Sighing, I sat down on a box and rubbed my forehead. My brain hurt from all that memorization. But at least I was good at it. I was always good at memorizing stuff.

My stomach growled, and I pulled out a sandwich of unknown origins best not to be thought about. I pulled off my hood and hat and slowly ate, one gulp at a time. It was getting hot. I was sitting in an abandoned alleyway, which was a shame. I used to like sitting in parks. It was always so nice and pretty there. And I liked feeling the sun on my back.

But I can't do that anymore.

I suddenly felt myself start sinking into a 'my life is messed up and I'm depressed' state. I suddenly stood up and finished the rest of my sandwich.

See, _this_ is why I don't sit alone in one place to long. I have time to think. And having time to think is _not_ a good thing.

I stretched and started walking. Judging by the sun, I could make it to Jake's just as his break starts.

Unfortunately for me, I was so deep in philosophic thought that I didn't see the security camera film me.

If I saw it, I would have broken it.

I jogged at a steady pace down the street, softly humming to myself. But I quickly learned that humming and jogging don't go very well together and stopped.

That's right around the time I heard police sirens off in the distance, but I wasn't too concerned. This wasn't exactly a happy part of town and cars couldn't come down here anyways. Besides, they didn't know I was down there.

For a long moment, there was silence. The sirens just stopped, and I forgot about them. Then I heard some voices behind me. And they sounded professional.

I quickened my pace. Surely, they weren't after _me,_ right? I didn't do anything. I wasn't spotted.

But the voices kept getting closer. And they weren't all in one spot either. They were fanned out. Almost like they were looking for someone.

Looking for me.

Uh oh.

I sped up. Voices were all around me now. Behind me, in front of me, beside me. But still I ran.

And I ran right into them.

As soon as I turned a corner, I saw three police guys with guns, all looking different directions. It didn't take long for one of them to spot me.

The elephant's eyes widened in shock and horror, "There it is!" he cried. More from fear than anything else.

His two companions turned and saw me. "Get it!"

I turned around and sprinted, only to stumble across another group of cops. I was being surrounded. The two groups leveled their guns at me, "Surrender!"

"Never!" was the automatic reply. It was a stupid reply, I know. But I only said it because that's what they say in the movies. I had one alley to run to: left. So I ran left. Bullets shot around me. I wasn't sure if they were _real bullets_ or _sleep bullets_ or _tazer bullets_ of _whatever bullets_ these animals used, but I did _not_ want to find out.

I ran down the said alley way (there was a surprising amount of alley ways) frantically looked for an escape. I saw a few other local bums slink into the shadows as I sped by, not really wanting to get into the mess I was in. And I didn't blame them.

I zig-zagged back and forth, dodging bullets and trash cans. Adrenaline was coursing through my body. My eyes searched for an escape route. I saw an old building with a cracking glass door. I ran sideways and rammed my shoulder into it. That soon proved to be a bad idea. The glass but into my shoulder and face the doorframe made me trip. I stumbled onto the hard concrete. The police were circling the building from the outside. They were calling for backup. I needed to act fast.

I forced myself up, but gasped in pain. My shoulder really hurt. I think I dislocated it. I bit back the pain and tried to get up again, this time succeeding. I decided to figure out the shoulder later.

I searched frantically around the building for an escape route. The police group outside was slowly growing. They were pointing their guns towards the building and demanded me to come out _now._ I stayed low to the ground so they wouldn't be able to see me through the windows.

The only exit I could find was the stairs.

I made a mad dash for it. Bullets smashed through the window as soon as I reached the base of it. None of them hit me (luckily) but it still was enough to scare the crackers out of me.

I took a sharp turn up the stairs, grateful for the wall that now separated me and the guns. I kept running higher and higher, flight after flight, until I reached the top. There was no escape route this time. No fire escape or elevator of convenient secret passageways. I looked outside a window, hoping to do that sill trick I did last week, but soon saw the sills were too far apart. And there was a bunch of policemen below. Police men who were now coming inside.

Uh oh.

I had to think fast. I searched around for something, _anything,_ that I could use. But the only thing that I found was an empty fire extinguisher and a rope. Then a plan popped up in my head. A brilliant, dangerous, stupid plan. But it was a plan. And that plan required two hands.

I looked down at my dislocated shoulder.

 _Oh, fruit cakes._

This wasn't going to be fun.

I let my arm hang loose as I grabbed a rope and tied my arm to a beam.

I'm not going to lie, I know how to relocate a shoulder by myself. It may not be the most effective or safe way, but I know how to. My shoulders were dislocated _a lot_ when I was younger. My parents certainly gave me a lot of problems, and rarely offered the solutions. I had to watch several videos by myself before I figured out how to do it if I was alone (which was always).

With the rope loosely holding my arm in place, I bent it at a ninety degree angle, then I turned so that my arm was pointing away from my side. I winced at the pain but continued the practice. I bent it farther… and farther… and farther… until I felt the familiar resistance. Then I pushed, and with a small _pop,_ it was back in place. The relief came first, and then the pain. I grunted as I untied my now mobile arm from the beam. I gave a quick glance down the stairs and was pleased to see that they weren't coming up to the top level yet. Evidently, they felt the need to search _every room_ before moving on.

Ha. Suckers.

I picked up the rope and fire extinguisher. I hid behind the door that lead opened down the staircase and waited. I didn't need to wait long.

Soon there was a tramping of footsteps, and a whole troupe of police came in. I watched them come in from behind the doorway, waiting for the right one.

 _Rhino… elephant… zebra… lion… bear… bear… elephant… tiger…_

Then the right one came: a fox.

I shot out from behind my hiding place and wrapped the rope around his neck. "STAY BACK!" I screamed, holding the fire extinguisher above the fox like a fatal weapon (which was exactly what I was using it for), "Stay back or I will kill him!"

"Nick!" a bunny cried from the stairs.

 _Oh no… oh wait… don't tell me…_ I glanced down at my captive fox and inwardly groaned. It was the fox from the shopping mall.

The fox caught my gaze and coughed out a chuckle, "H-hey there. H-h-how 'bout w-we talk this out, al-alright?" I growled and tightened the rope around his neck to show I meant business. _"Or not,"_ he gurgled.

A sheep pointed a gun closer at me, and I raised my extinguisher, "Lower your weapons!" I cried. There was a moment of hesitation, and I was afraid they called my bluff, "NOW!"

Now, before I continue, I am sure a lot of you are wondering why the heck I'm using a fire extinguisher as a weapon. But I can tell you from second-hand experience that fire extinguishers are dangerous and if it doesn't kill him, it would have given that fox a huge concussion (at the very least). I just hoped that they wouldn't figure out that they could shoot faster than I could swing. Otherwise I'd be in huge trouble.

Everyone was silent for a good long while. Nobody spoke. Everyone was waiting.

The bunny was the first one to drop her weapon. Then came the sheep. Then the cheetah and elephant. Soon _everybody_ threw their guns to the ground.

I nearly gaped in surprise.

 _They would sacrifice their whole mission for one tiny fox?_ But, that's what I wanted, right? I shouldn't be surprised. I quickly shook the thoughts out of my head. I needed to focus.

But by shaking those thoughts out of my head, I was opening it to brand new thoughts.

I led the fox down the stairs, one step at a time. I kept my back against the wall and watched everyone with wariness. Especially the bunny.

She glared at me as if I was the most loathsome piece of trash on the planet.

I licked my lips and continued down the stairs. My heart was thumping loudly in my chest. It was a miracle they couldn't hear it to. Thoughts rolled through my brain at a-hundred miles per hour.

 _What if they call my bluff? What if they start shooting? What if I freak out and kill the fox? Oh geezohgeezohgeez. I'm fourteen! I can't murder anybody! I don't wanna' go to jail! Am I a monster for threatening him? I don't mean it! It's an act of self-preservation! What if this fox hates me now? I don't want him to hate me! I don't want him to be scared! He probably thinks I'm an absolute jerk now. I'm not an absolute jerk! I'm nice! Why am I threatening to murder anyways? That's a huge crime! What would Jake think when he hears about this? Will he help me anymore?_

And on and on and on my thoughts went. I felt myself on the verge of a panic attack. Everyone was staring at me with loathing and fear. I was a monster to them.

My breathing hitched and I felt fearful freaked-out tears start to prickle the corners of my eyes.

 _No!_ I screamed at myself, _Stop being a baby! We'll worry about it later. Survive first._

I quickly got my emotions under control. I let my mind go blank. But my heart was still beating way to fast.

Finally, I reached the end of the staircase. Not turning my back on the officers once, I stepped through the doorway and out onto the street. "Don't follow me!" I screamed, "Or else he gets it!" I heard the fox whimper and my heart clenched. But I ignored it.

I walked down the alley, taking several turns and bends, all while having the fox close in tow.

"I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry… please don't hate me… I'm so sorry… please don't hate me… I'm so sorry…" I muttered the same phrases over and over (but I am still unsure who I was muttering them to). I eventually got to the point where I was confident in letting the fox go. I stopped at a bend and pushed the fox to the ground. I then took off running as fast as I could, not looking back once. I didn't stop until I was safe inside my little dumpster.

And I cried all night long.

And I hated myself for it.

' _What's the big deal?'_ I told myself, _'You threatened people before!'_

It was true. I threatened lives before. All a bluff, of course. But none of them ever looked at me like _that._

I spent the entire week telling myself I wasn't the dangerous psychopath they keep telling everybody I am. But tonight… tonight I think I just proved them right.

I groaned and ran my hand through my hair. This was certainly an eventful, emotional night. I felt myself spiral deeper and deeper into depression as I drifted into a restless sleep, before then bolting up in sudden realization.

Why the heck did I use a flipping fire extinguisher for?

I had a knife in my backpack!

 **It's funny to me that Emily swears in food. I don't know why I did it, I just think it's funny. XD**

 **Hope I'm not making Emily look like a cry baby in here. Nothing's worse than a cry baby. But I don't think you guys (or me) would be doing so hot either in her situation...**

 **This chapter's not great, but it's a chapter. Reviews are appreciated. Bye for now! ^-^**


	5. Chapter 5: Stupid Flash

**Three weeks later, and there's an update. Man, I'm so terrible. And that's a quick update.** ** _*sighs*_**

 **Well! I'm here now! This chapter was originally like, 14 pages. But then I had to cut it in half. So the ending is a little funky. But it's also a bit of a cliffhanger, sooo...**

 **Also, since I was bored tonight, I posted. But since I was tired, I didn't read it through for spelling mistakes and stuff. Ah well. If it bothers you later, just point 'em out to me, kay? Time to answer the reviews!**

 **Slayer911: Well, it** ** _is_** **a bit sooner, sooo...**

 **ImaginationMachine: *blushes* Thank you so much!**

 **Jack905: Not exactly a chapter that's supposed to be amusing, but I guess there were a few parts that were, so... okay!**

 **Luck out: *bows* why thank you.**

 **GhostChris: Oh, don't worry! There'll be a third person! A bit scared, because I'm not quite sure how I will write such a character... and I don't have much planned out from that moment forth... but I guess I'll just have to wing it.**

 **xPrimalHunterx: Umm... okay then... cool people fact!**

 **ADutchMarine: Thank you so much! Your review made me so happy.**

 **enrestgoestocamp: *bows***

 **Guest: Lol, same.**

 **Jack905: Probably. It was just the sudden realization that she didn't need the fire extinguisher at all that got to her. XD**

 **sydney: yeah, I'll be trying to keep the crying down in the future. But thanks for the insight!**

 **AprilArtemiskk: Hey Kk! I'm glad you're liking it. Just a little warning, there will be spoilers to the movie in this (but that movie was so good you really should go see/buy/rent it).**

 **Patchwork Knightness: *turns on spy theme music* duhn-nuh-nuh-nuh-nah! Dunh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nah!**

 **Parrotscrackers: (if you weren't a guest I would have answered right away XD) Ohmygoshthankyousomuch! You have no idea how happy I was when I saw your review. I loved the feedback. Don't worry, I didn't take it offensively that you thought I was good for a fourteen-year-old. I was very glad you thought so! I'm hoping to become an author one day so I think that's a step in the right direction. And I'm actually writing most of this from the top of my head. I've done pretty much no research and I'm honestly surprised about how well it's doing. And that was pretty much exactly what I was thinking when I wrote this chapter. I mean, that's a pretty darn good excuse to cry, right? And I also think I know what parts you're talking about when you wanted more description, though not with the feelings and reactions... I mean, it's told from her POV, but I'll try to strengthen that point too. And yes, I have a plan for character development. The first few chapters were mostly just introducing the character and her surroundings... along with dropping little hints of what's going to happen. I have a pretty good idea of how I want this story to end, along with how Emily would have grown and learned from her experiences (for better or for worse. Not giving away anything here). And I'll try to work on my spelling. It always seems like no matter how many times I read through it,** ** _something_** **always slips past my spell checks. Maybe I** ** _should_** **get a beta reader. But anyway, thank you** ** _so much_** **for the feedback and the review. It got me really excited. The next two chapters will probably have the same mistakes you mentioned in your criticism, but only because I wrote most of it before you posted your review. But I'll try to take it up a notch in afterward. Thank you again so much!**

 **So! Hope I got everybody's review! Sorry if I didn't! Enjoy, peeps!**

It's been one week, three days, and six hours since I woke up in Zootopia.

Actually, I'm lying about the hours. I have no idea the amount of hours I spent here.

Anyways, it's been one week, two days, and six hours (it _could've_ been six hours, you don't know) since I woke up in Zootopia, and I'm as nervous as a… nervous… dude.

Yesterday's incident spread through the media like a wildfire. Even _I_ could tell that much, and I didn't even have a phone.

It was a _huge_ thing. The fox was sped off to the hospital even though he _absolutely fine_ (he said so himself) and was asked a gazillion questions. Questions like _'How terrifying was this creature up close?'_ and _'If this thing can harm the police, will it harm us?'_

Bleg.

Luckily though, the fox didn't give them a lot of 'it's a super dangerous creature and will not hesitate to kill' crap. In fact, he seemed mostly confused throughout the entire thing. He even said in one review, _'I think she was just… really scared.'_

Now the media thinks I have mind powers and can tamper with the brain. 'Cause surely, Officer Wilde wouldn't have _real sympathy_ for the creature that tried to kill him, right?

I just personally think that the meds got to him. Though why he would need meds, I do not know.

But it wasn't the raging media that got me worried. No, no. What got me worried was talking to Jake.

He probably is way scared of me now. I mean, I'm not like, _attached_ to him or something (I mean in friendship, not the other thing. There's no way I'm falling in love with a sheep. Or any animal, for that matter), but it's just that he's the only help I've got. I mean, if he doesn't help me anymore, I literally cannot live. I can't go buy food, ask him to shop for supplies for me, talk with anyone, or _anything._ Jacob's the only guy that can help me out. And he's the only guy I could socialize with. I've been full of nervous energy lately (for obvious reasons). I can't just keep it bottled up! I need somebody to talk to every once in a while.

And today was his last day for the week. If I didn't act now, I may never get the chance to.

And, there was always the chance that he didn't see the news yet, right?

I packed everything into my pack, leaving only the cushions behind, and climbed out.

It was about midday and way hot. If it wasn't for the fact that the dumpster was in a shadow, I would have been cooked like a human burrito. Everyone was wearing short sleeves and short shorts and flip flops and pony tails (literally if you were a pony), and where was I through all of this?

Why, I was in a thick hoodie and sweats. So the hot day + my nervousness + plus my clothes = sweaty pig.

I kept pulling at my sweatshirt, trying to get some air in there. A few animals glanced at me oddly because of my clothes, but most of the time they just crossed to the other side of the road. Which, by the way, was completely fine by me. The only thing I could think about was keeping my face hidden under my glasses.

I flowed through the crowd, snatching anything I could get my hands on. Yes, I know I shouldn't do it. I needed to lay low for a bit. But I was just _so nervous._ I needed to do something with my hands. And what better to do than pickpocket?

I shook my head in exasperation, _'My life is so weird.'_

I took a huge swig from my water bottle, trying to cool myself off. _Why does it have to be so hot? On today, of all days._

After ten more minutes of excruciating long walking, I finally reached the pizza place. I actually didn't know what the pizza place was called. I never bothered to read it (yes, I can read, just not very efficiently).

Deciding it was a good time to figure out where the heck I was getting my meals from, I squinted up at the sign, sounding out the words under my breath.

 _"_ _P… pa… pis… piz…_ piss-ah? Piece-ah? Oh, _pizza._ Pizza p… pa… _pal… palo…_ Pizza paluh… _palak…_ Pizza Palak? Why would it be called… oh… wait… doesn't the 'e' make the 'a' strong…? So would that make it… Pizza Pal _a_ ke? Ugh. Whatever." I shook my head in anger and stormed behind the building.

I was procrastinating, and I knew it. I hated reading. I must've been feeling really desperate for distractions to stoop so low.

I squared my shoulder and told myself to stop being such a wuss. I did bad things, and now I needed to face the consequences like the man I'm not (because, you know, I'm a girl).

I hid in the hiding place I hid in last time and waited for Jacob to come out for his daily lunch break. After about ten minutes of waiting (thank goodness I was in the shade) Jake finally came out with two slices of pizza. He got a free slice of pizza from his boss every day. Didn't know why he would need a second one, though.

He looked around the outside expectantly. I waited and watched, trying to see what he would do. After about ten seconds, he finally sighed and shook his head and sat down on the steps. That's when I popped out.

"Hey Jake!"

He jumped about fifteen feet in the air and I could've sworn his wool turned a little whiter. "Emily! You g-gave me a _heart attack!"_

I grinned. Maybe this would go better than I thought, "Whoops. Better call the ER then."

Jake gave me a withering glare and said, "Why th-the h-h-heck did y-you threaten Officer W-Wilde yesterday?"

 _Or… maybe not._ "You saw the news, huh? A-are you mad?"

The sheep folded his arms, _"Yes,_ E-Emily, I am _v-very_ mad. You d-don't go around committing f-first cl-class felonies!"

I faltered, "Is that a fancy word for breaking the law?"

He frowned, "I… I don't know. Just h-heard someone s-say that on a c-c-cop show once."

I nodded in understanding, _"Ah…"_

"But th-that still d-doesn't change th-the facts. What th-the heck m-made y-you do it?"

I held out my hands in exasperation, "Well _Jacob,_ sometimes I do _stupid things_ in high-stress situations. And that situation just happened to be in an abandoned building surrounded with gun-holding-cops, okay? I did the first thing that popped in my head, and that thing just _happened to be_ creating a hostage situation."

"You thr-threatened a _c-cop_ with a f-fire extinguisher," he deadpanned.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright? I was practically scared ta' death! Don't ya' think I felt bad about it?"

"You sh-shouldn't have done it."

"Why do ya' even care, anyways? It's _my_ life, _I'll_ be the one dealin' with the consequences," I argued.

Jake held out his hooves, "You're not und-understanding! Y-your situation w-went fr-from bad to worse! If we get c-caught, I'll be arrested f-for knowingly h-helping a criminal! Th-the more b-bad things _you_ do, the higher the s-sentence is f-for me! You _do_ realize th-that, don't you?"

My rants and awesome comebacks were suddenly cut short. _No,_ I did _not_ realize that. I wasn't even thinking about it. "B-but… we won't g-get caught! I'll get caught, not you!"

Jake shook his head, "You h-have the w-world's _top agencies_ and _detectives_ on your trail. There's a h-high probability th-that if they find you, they'll find _me."_

I slowly sat down, my gaze locked on the concrete below me. "I didn't even _think_ of that," I whispered.

The sheep sat next to me, "I j-just… don't want to g-go to jail, alright?"

I shook my head covered my face, "I'm _really_ sorry, Jake." I didn't want Jake to get tangled up in all of this mess. I'm fine if _I_ get sent to jail and cut to itty-bitty pieces (rather not, though) but the thought of it happenin' to _someone else_ on _my account_ made me feel sick to my stomach.

Jacob's face softened, "D-don't worry about it. I was just sc-scared. I w-was thinking about it r-right before I turned on the news. Th-then I saw what you d-did and… well… I fl-flipped out a bit. Sorry."

I couldn't help but give a small smile. Jake was too nice for his own good. After screaming at me, he was now apologizing for my mistakes. I sat up and gave him a nudge in the shoulder, "Well, if they _do_ catch us, just say I used my magic mind powers ta' help me. That, or threatened you with a fire extinguisher."

The sheep laughed weakly, "Heh heh. Y-yeah. Or m-maybe use your _extra-terrestrial_ knowledge t-to trick me into it."

I face palmed, "People are _really_ sayin' that about me?"

"You have a _whole_ talk show d-dedicated to you," he chuckled.

This time I gave a real, sincere laugh. "Sure feels nice ta' be wanted."

"Heh heh. Yeah."

We sat in content silence for a bit, in the shade of Pizza Palake. It felt _so good_ to get everything off my chest. I was glad Jake didn't do something stupid like turn me over to the police or somethin'.

Jacob handed me his piece of pizza, breaking the silence, "Here, I br-brought you one."

I sat confused for a moment, before realizing what he wanted. "Oh, um," I checked my pockets and pulled out a wad of cash, "Here, is this enough?"

Jake pushed the cash away, "I don't w-want that. Th-this pizza is on the house."

I stared in shock. Nobody _ever_ did that for me. "Really?"

He nodded, "Yep."

Shrugging, I put away the cash and took the pizza. We ate together in silence.

Jake was _way_ too nice for his own good.

Heh. Good thing he'll never live in _my_ type of world. He would get eaten alive.

 **. . .**

After I finished my pizza, and thanked Jacob and left. I felt… I'm not sure what kind of word you would use describe it… peaceful? Happy? Elated? Content? I don't know, but it certainly a nice feeling. A feeling I do not feel often.

Jeez. Zootopia is really screwing my emotions. First, I cry more times in a few weeks than I have in a year or so (that was not out of pain). Next, I feel guilty about trying to save my own skin. And now, I'm feeling happy? What the heck is wrong with Zootopia?

I began to feel myself get weirded out by my life and philosophical again, so I decided a nice distraction would do me some good. The only problem is finding something to distract myself with.

And as we all know, when I get bored, I make stupid mistakes.

I walked around town a bit, aimlessly looking for something to do. I walked around the alleys, advoiding gangs and local bums. None of them really recognized me, but they started to get hostile. I would have given them my not-so-sweet-little-homeless-girl glare, but that's hard to do with glasses and a hood. So instead I simply pulled out my knife and made sure everybody could see it.

They got out of my way pretty darn quickly after that.

My happy mood from earlier quickly evaporated once I entered the streets. All sorts of nasty smells wound their way up into my nostrils, I heard and saw a few car chases, and even the boiling sun could not shed light into the shadowed alleyways.

It was right about at that point when I realized I wandered _way too far_ in town. I was in a completely new territory. Not a good thing.

So you see, on the streets, there are different levels of 'shady'. The 'not at all' shady, the 'beginning to decline' shady, the 'line' shady, the 'shady' shady, and the 'ultra' shady. The NAAs (Not at Alls) are like super rich city folk. The ones that live in tall skyscrapers and have great jobs and everybody are friends and all the crap. The BTDs are practically the same, only not as rich and fancy. So they're a _little more exposed_ than the NAAs. Then there's the Ls. The line. That's where there's quite a noticeable difference between the great family and the not so great family. They're not as rich, live not exactly in the slums, but not in the penthouses either. They're a little bit harder to identify sometimes, but I think you get it. And then there's the normals. The shady-shady. They live between the streets and small, crappy apartments. They're a lot more streetwise then the rest of them so far, but not completely submerged. Don't have the best life, but there's worst.

And then there's the USs. Ultra-shady. They're like, not good. Live in terrible environments, do drugs, have all sorts of problems, usually involved in multiple rings and gangs, terrible with children, etc., etc. I've only lived in that state once, and that was with my parents (they weren't all the way ultra-shady, mind you. If these were grades, they were probably a D- or somethin'). I've handled the USs before. Many times, in fact. Worked with 'em and stuff, but that was only when I was completely confident and understood the pecking order. (I'm not a USs, if that's what you're wondering, I'm a normal minus).

There's a few other levels too, but I don't want to name them. So that's the basic outline of the levels I made up in my head.

So now that you understood the levels, I'll now tell you why the heck I brought them into this story in the first place. I brought them to let you understand the weight of my situation, 'cause I was in the ultra-shady part of town.

Holding my knife out, I slowly backed out of the alleyway into a walkway. Not that that was much better, but at least I couldn't be jumped.

I took a few deep breaths and gathered my thoughts. Before you roll my eyes at how big of a wuss I am, let me just tell you that I was not freaking out. The sudden realization just started me, that's all.

I shrugged off my sudden shock and decided that leaving as soon as possible would be my best option. Though my overlarge glasses and hood was mostly covering my face, I saw a few bums stare at me hostilely. And I had a feeling a single wimpy knife would keep 'em at bay.

I started to backtrack through the alleyways, keeping out of the main streets as much as I could. I walked for about twenty minutes before running into trouble.

You see, I was just coming to an opening of a rather long alley when I heard the screech of tires in front of me, along with the opening and slamming of a car door. When I heard footsteps heading for the same alleyway I was in, I instantly hid behind a trash can.

After what seemed like forever, a small weasel finally showed up at the base of the alley. He had his hands in his pocket and had a cautious look on his face. I could tell he was about to do something bad.

So what did I do? Well, I did what nearly every other kid in modern day would do when faced with a dangerous situation: pulled out an i-phone and filmed.

Only, it wasn't an i-phone. And I didn't even film. I just took out my disposable camera I found a couple of chapters back (when I found that secret black market) and took a few crappy photos.

If you're wondering why I was doing such a thing, I'll tell you _another_ rule on the street: dirt is good. And no, not the dirty dirt, but the information dirt. If you have blackmail on someone, it puts you higher on the pecking order. It gets you protection and into communities. Helps you work your way up.

So I took pictures with my disposable camera. The weasel looked around nervously before stepping into a doorway hidden in the shadows.

As I crept up to the doorway, I heard Jake's voice warning in the back of my mind to stay out of trouble, or else he could get in trouble.

But… I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. Not when it practically presented itself like this. I was at the bottom of the food chain. Heck, I was lower than the bottom, I was mud. I needed to get higher. I needed to look out for #1.

As you can see, I don't have a very strong will. And besides, Jake would have probably done the same thing in my position, right? People aren't naturally selfless. They just do it for show.

And with that thought, I opened the door.

I crept in slowly, trying my best to stick to the shadows. I saw the weasel run around a corner, and I followed. I snuck around the corner and gaped at what I saw (not because what I saw was surprising, but more because of… well, you see).

Instead of seeing a single, scrawny weasel, I saw a huge, gigantic, polar bear holding a duffle bag. A polar bear with huge, meaty claws and sharp teeth.

I had to bite my cheek to keep in my whimper.

I saw the weasel scamper right up to the polar bear, "You got the stuff?"

The polar bear nodded, "Yeah." He tried to give the weasel the duffle bag, but he quickly backed up.

"Nuh uh, big guy. I get me pay up front," he held out his tiny paw snidely. The polar bear growled, but gave the weasel a huge stack of cash. The weasel laughed and hugged the money, "Ooh money! How I have missed you!"

The polar bear rolled his eyes and held the duffel bag above his head, "If ya' don't hurry up, I'll drop it on you."

"Okay! Okay!" the weasel held his hands above his head, "Yeesh! _Some_ one's cranky today!"

The polar bear huffed and handed the weasel the duffel bag. It was right about then when I remembered why the heck I was there in the first place. I held up my camera and took a picture. A bright flash emitted in the room. Everyone froze.

I forgot to turn off the flash.

Whoops.

 **Yeah, like I said. A bit of a funky ending. And just a funky chapter in general. Not very action packed or interesting. Like I said, it was originally longer, but then it got** ** _to_** **long and I had to cut it in half. Sorry 'bout that. But I can assure the next chapter is going to be the most intense chapter so far. But at least this chapter ended on a cliffie. That counts for something, right?**

 **So! That's it for today! Please review peeps! Constructive criticism in appreciated! If you see any spelling mistakes, I will not be offended if you pointed it out to me. It'd actually help me.**

 **So again, sorry for the lame chapter. I'll try to update again relatively soon. Hope you liked this okay. I'm just rambling at this point. I better stop myself. Why am I still talking? I'm tired. Goodnight! :)**

 **Don't own Zootopia.**


	6. Chapter 6: Thank Goodness for Crowbars!

**Heyo guys! I'm back with another update! I'm gonna' try and make this quick 'cause I'm SUPER tired from camping out in my friend's backyard all night. I went to bed at 11:30 (and who knows when I actually fell asleep) and then woke up at 5 (I was able to eventually fall back asleep once all those stupid birds quieted down, but then I had to get back up at 8 anyways). So yeah! That's my life recently! On with the comments!**

 **teharrisonfox: Will do.**

 **AprilArtemiskk: Okay, I kinda' did a lot of stressing over your review, because I KNEW it was getting repetitive. I was just hoping that you guys weren't quite noticing yet so I can get away with it ONE more time. But apparently not. Heh heh. I thought the first few times was okay though, since each one was important (in my opinion). One introduced Emily to Hopps and Wilde, another gave a little bit on her past, and the last (or was it the second?) set some boundaries for her and Nick that will be important later on. But I was seriously stressing out and for a while there, I wanted to actually put it on hiatus. Because the more I thought about it, the more I realized how I didn't actually know how to get to the ending. Well, I** ** _knew_** **how to, but not just in a way that would make actually character development and bonding moments and overall make it a relatively useless story. But then I came up to the solution to my problem: I had to add a third dimension to my story. And after some thinking, I finally found something that would work and tried my best to work it in. I'm not going to give much away, but let me say just right now it's a bit of a stretch and also a wee bit spotty in places (not to mention a bit cliché). But it's better than nothing, right? You're not going to see a bunch of it in this chapter, only a small hint. So don't go reading this and say "What the heck was she talking about? Looks exactly the same to me." Be patient. I've got plans.**

 **ADutchMarine: Heh heh. Hello again!**

 **And so, without further ado, here's my chapter!**

"Did someone… just take a picture of us?" the weasel asked.

"Yeah, I think they did," the polar bear answered.

Slowly, they turned and face me. And I stood there like an idiot, to shocked to move. First there was confusion on their face. And then, recognition. And then fear. And then realization.

Realization that they outnumbered me.

Realization that I had dirt on them.

Realization that I had a hefty price on my head.

Realization… that I was standing right there in front of them. With nothing but a camera and a knife.

 _Uh oh…_

"Is that the…?"

"Yeah," the polar bear nodded.

"Should we…?"

The polar bear grinned evilly, "Yeah."

They advanced on me. I backed up and held out my camera, "Stay back! I've got proof of you breaking the law and stuff!"

The polar bear whapped the disposable camera out of my hand. It flew through the air and shattered on the concrete. "Umm…" I stuttered. I held out my knife, "Stay back! I've got a knife that will slice you into itty-bitty bite-sized pieces and stuff!"

The polar bear growled and pulled out his own knife. The weasel cackled and barred his tiny teeth and claws. I shrunk back, "Did I mention I had supernatural powers too?" I squeaked.

The weasel jumped and I sliced blindly. I felt it hit something soft and the weasel fell back, clutching his arm. When he drew his hand back, there was blood. He looked at me venomously, "Oh, you're _so_ gonna' pay for that."

The polar bear roared and attacked. I tried to hit another lucky shot, but he grabbed my arm and twisted it backwards, forcing me to drop my knife. I cried out in pain when he pushed my arm back further. He brought his knife to my throat and growled, "You were really stupid for comin' down here, you… whatever you are."

I winced as the knife started to dig into my skin. I made a lot of stupid, on-the-whim mistakes, but I really messed up this time. "Well, I am a t-teenager, ya' kn-know. Stupid mistakes go h-hand n' hand," I croaked, hoping they sympathized with minors.

The polar bear growled and held the knife tighter. The weasel grinned and got up, clutching his arm, "What're we gonna' do with it?"

The polar bear frowned and looked at me, "Can't turn it into th' police by ourselves. We're wanted. We'll have ta' find someone to do it for us."

The weasel pouted, "But that means we'll have to split up the booty even _more."_

"Hey! If you wanna' present yourself to th' police, go right ahead. I'd like to _not_ spend my life behind bars, thank you."

"Ya' know, I have that same dream too," I grinned weakly.

"Stay quiet."

The weasel started to pace around me, "You know, one does not get into these situations every day."

The polar bear nodded, "You're right, Duke. Not very often when you capture an alien."

"An alien," the weasel started to add, "That not only invaded you privacy, but tried to collect dirt on us. And then nearly slice me arm off."

The polar bear grinned, "An alien, that is now in your complete disposal."

I started to grow uncomfortable with the situation. They were wanting pay back. I forced a watery smile, "H-hey, we all gotta' make a livin' s-somehow, am I right?"

The bear above me smiled, "That's right." He withdrew the knife and almost instantly the weasel leapt on top of me. He took out his claws and gave me a huge gash on running from my collar bone to my lower part of my upper-arm. I yelled out in pain and surprise and kicked the weasel off. He landed back on his feet easily, "Revenge is a dish best served cold."

I glared at them with loathing, "They'll know you hurt me."

"An act of self-defense," the polar bear said simply, "You ruthlessly attacked my good friend here with a knife. He defended himself the best he could, but you ultimately landed a severe blow on his arm. While I—being the good friend I am—rushed him to the hospital, our future guy who we had not discovered yet ran you over to the police and turned you in. End of story."

If it was possible for a polar bear to appear snarky, this one certainly did. I never wanted to tear out anyone's eyes our more than I did at that exact moment (well, there _were_ those kids with the lead pipes, but I think you get what I'm saying).

I clutched my arm and got up slowly, eyeing the knife in the polar bear's hand, trying to think of an escape plan. Seeing no escape routes, I did what I did best: talk. "Look, fellas. I think we got off to a bad start here. I'm sure it would be _much_ more beneficial ta' keep me than ta' sell me. Think of all th' scams we could—"

The polar bear handed the weasel a phone. He growled at me, "Shut up."

I held up my hand (I would have held up my other hand too, if it wasn't for the fact that it was dripping everywhere), "Look, I get it. I show up with a camera collectin' dirt on you. But what would you have done in my situation? Besides, I might let something _slip_ if ya'—"

"Will you shut her up?" the weasel asked.

The polar bear shrugged and punched me in the stomach, knocking the air out of me. I doubled over and wheezed.

"I shut her up."

 _Man. You really screwed up this time, Emily._

I was in deep doo-doo. Like, really, really deep. Deeper than I've ever been.

Actually, that's a lie. I've been in deeper. But not for a _very_ long time.

I shook those thoughts out of my head. I needed to focus.

I took in long gulps of air, trying to regain my breath. My stomach was sore and my arm was bleeding. I was not in a very good position. I looked up through my hair and saw the weasel talking on the phone to somebody. The polar bear reached down and lifted me up by my hood. I knew better than to struggle. I was with professionals here.

The polar bear looked at me up and down, "You don't seem very dangerous."

"Oh, I'm not. Not at all. I'm probably the least dangerous thing out there. In fact, this one time I—"

The polar bear twisted my hood and held me up higher, cutting off my air flow, "Shut _up."_

The weasel closed the phone, "I got somebody."

"Who?"

"That one fox guy."

"Heck no! You didn't get that Wilde traitor, did ya'?" the polar bear twisted around and dropped me. I tumbled to the ground and lay there, gasping for breath for the second time in the last five minutes.

The weasel held up his paws defensively, "As _if._ I got that one other fox, Finick."

The polar bear narrowed his eyes, "He's not on good terms with the cops."

"He's on good terms with Nick," he answered, "He's a traitor, but you gotta' remember he does serve his usefulness… from time to time."

The polar bear grabbed me by my arm (the bad one, mind you) and hoisted me to my feet, "Let's get goin' then."

They walked out of the door and into the alley. We walked out to what I assumed to be the weasel's car from its size. The polar bear roared angrily, "Why'd you still have _this_ piece of junk!? How do you expect me to fit inside that?"

"Get in the back."

"She'll take up to much space."

"Put her in the trunk."

The polar bear growled in annoyance and walked to the back of the car. I started to protest, "No, it's okay. Really. I can sit up front with the fine weasel. Or walk. I can walk really fast. I can even run. Put me on a leash and drag me from the window. I swear I'll keep up. I can outrun half of downtown! I can outrun a rabbit! I can outrun a—"

"Why won't you shut up?" the polar bear cried. He grabbed me by the hair and pushed me inside. I barely had time to get my legs out of the way when he closed the trunk. The heard car start up and begin to move.

I lay down inside the small trunk. How I was even able to fit in there, I still don't know. But the power of a threatening polar bear can do amazing things to you.

I shifted around uncomfortably. I was laying on something that jabbed into my side. My only light source was a few bullet holes above my face. I started to feel myself freak out.

 _Ohmygosh. This is actually happening. I'm going to jail. I'm fourteen and I'm going to jail. Oh my gosh. I'm going to die. After they chop me up, I'm going to die. I can't die! I have so much to live for! Like…_

My thoughts were cut short. What _did_ I have to live for?

I shook my head. Now was not the time to get depressed. Now was the time to save my own life (again).

The first thing I did was calm myself down. I always got freaked out in situations like these. No matter how many times I get stuffed into a trunk or be held at gun point, I always freak out. You'd think that after a while, I'll get used to it. But apparently not. And every time I get freaked out, I ramble. I don't know why, I just ramble. I ramble to my captors. I ramble to myself. I ramble to you like I'm doing right now—

I cut off my own thoughts once again. I really needed to focus.

The second thing I did was look around. There wasn't much to see, of course. It was dark and I was cramped. But I did my best. And I didn't find a single (useful) thing. You'd _think_ that criminal would have something _useful_ in their car, but no _ooo…._

The car went over a bump and I landed in the thing poking my side. What was that thing anyway? Well, whatever it is I was going to strangle it for poking me later.

I wiggled my arm down the best I could, trying to find something that could help. I found a few blueberries, some sort of onion thing, used bullets, a magazine, newspaper, trash bag, empty soda can, three socks, and a ring. I groaned in frustration and tossed the stuff away (well, I tossed it the best I could).

The car went over another bump and I was rammed into the poky-thing once again. What was that thing anyway? Whatever it was, it hurt. A lot. Why can't those idiots drive more carefully? Geez, at least when _I_ do hostage situations, I'm nice about it. (Don't give me that look, I _was_ nice. I said sorry).

I felt my own blood begin to pool beneath me. ' _I hope I stain this car,'_ I thought venomously. I tried to reshift my position, but once again was poked by that stupid think in my side. What was that anyway? Why can't it leave me alone?

Annoyed, I decided to try and move it. I was laying on top of my good arm. I tried to wiggle it farther beneath me, but that didn't work. So I then instead tried to roll over. After a few minutes, I was able to get about a quarter roll. Satisfied, I reached over myself and grabbed at that stupid poky thing. It felt cool and metal-like. Once I got a good grip on it, I triumphantly pulled it out from under my body.

"Aha!" I cried. I held up my oppressor, and was surprised to see it was only a crowbar. _A crowbar? Seriously? I felt like some sort of dull spike-bar thing._ Then realization hit me. _I had a crowbar!_

I let out a sigh I did not realize I was holding in. Grinning in relief, I squirmed back around and put the crowbar under the hood and pulled. It did not budge.

Frowning, I tried again. Same result.

The car slowed to a stop, and I heard a snippet of the conversation.

 _"_ _Ya' know, we can turn her over to those other guys. That way we won't have ta' split up the money so much."_

 _'_ _Other guys?'_ I wondered.

 _"_ _Those jokers? Ha! They don't have nearly as much money as the government. Besides, they're so desperate it ma—"_

The car sped up and did a huge swerve and my head hit the side of the car, making me momentarily forget the odd conversation. I winced and shook stars out of my eyes. This was going to be harder than I thought.

I tried a different tactic. I squirmed on my back and lodged the crowbar into the tiny crack of the hood. I then grabbed the crowbar and used all my body weight to pull downward. The hood started to creak and for a moment I thought that I got it right. But then the crowbar swung out and hit me in the nose.

"Ow!" I cried, bringing my hand to my nose. The crowbar fell beside me.

I grabbed my nose and winced in pain. It was bleeding and I could already feel the swelling. ' _Ah geez, did I break it?'_

I shook those thoughts out of my head. I'll worry about that later.

I reached over and grabbed the crowbar, determined to get it right this time. I shoved it deep in the crack—deeper than before—and pulled myself up, therefore pulling the crowbar down. There was a creaking noise, and the trunk sprang open!

I landed on my back with a grunt but grinned. _I did it!_

My victory didn't last long though. Wind filled the back end of the car. I shivered and pushed the roof higher, sitting up. We were speeding down what looked like was a highway. The good news? We were in front of a huge truck. The giraffe driver was so tall she couldn't see me. The bad news? We were in front of a huge truck.

I looked around wildly, pulling my hood up to block the wind. We were on the side of the road, driving along a steep hill. I thought about jumping, but even I knew better than to jump from a moving car on the highway—so far.

Blood dripped from my nose and arm. It already was seeping through my coat. The wind seemed to cut right through my sweatshirt.

I'm not going to lie. I've ridden on the back of cars before. Let me just tell you it's not a pleasant experience. It's always freezing and the wind hurts. But I've never ridden in an open trunk while bleeding. I could already feel a headache from the loss of blood and my nose hurt.

I shook my head. Now was not time for stupid things like pain. I needed to figure out how to jump from a moving car safely.

 _Ugh. Why is my life so messed up?_

We suddenly entered a tunnel. Instead of going straight like I thought we would we turned right. At first I wondered why the heck they would do that but then I realized it was so they could avoid the security cameras. I rolled my eyes at the simple trick.

We suddenly came out of the tunnel into blinding light. I squinted and took a quick look at my surroundings.

We had slowed down and we were now driving on a one-way road. Right by a hill. I was about to jump when the car skidded to a stop, sending me flying to the pavement. I screamed and skidded across it. The polar bear stepped out of the car, "How the heck didjya' get out!?" he growled. Then he saw the crowbar in the trunk, "Heh. A little more resourceful than we thought, now are ya'?"

He took me by the backpack and hefted me up. My face and hands were all jacked up. Blood seeped through my clothes and dripped from my face. He frowned, "You better not have stained the car."

"Yo! Bernie! You givin' me the loot or not?" cried a voice I have not heard before. I looked over the polar bear's shoulder and saw a blurry silhouette of a van and a small fox.

The polar bear—Bernie—growled in annoyance, "I've got 'er alright." He carried me over to my new captor: a small fennec fox, no taller than my knee. If I wasn't so hurt, I probably would have laughed.

The fox eyed me up and down, "That's it? She don't look like much."

"Yeah, well, she was about to jump from the back of Duke's car. Keep an eye on her. She's a tricky one."

I bit back a smart remark. I was angry and hurt. I knew better than to talk.

The fox gave me one more skeptical look before shrugging, "Eh, whatever. I got some 'cuffs in the back." He walked away behind the van.

I jolted up suddenly, _'Cuffs!? Nobody said anything about cuffs!'_

I've had _very bad experiences_ with handcuffs. And no, not just because of the police. I've had other experiences that I try very hard to forget. I was _not_ about to let this crazy fox chain me to a furnace or whatever. And just like that, my will to escape came back.

The polar bear was still holding me by my backpack. The hill was only a few feet away. I could easily slip out of the straps and jump over the side. I would hate to leave it behind though. Me and my backpack had been through a lot together. But when it came to life and death…

I heard the car door close and the jingling of chains. After giving my backpack one last appreciative squeeze, I slipped out and ran across the road.

"Hey!"

"What the—!"

"Stop her!"

"Don't let it get away!"

I ignored them and hopped over those weird fence-bumper things they put on the side of the road. For a moment, I was free falling. I felt my stomach lurch and blood rush to my head.

And then I hit water.

And then everything went black.

 **Well! Looks like another escape from th-WAIT PLEASE DON'T GO! I know I said I'll try to stop being repetitive, but this is actually the turning point in the story! I'm going to be bringing in three characters seriously into the story within the next few chapters, okay? So please hang in there until the next chapter. If you don't like the next chapter, you can leave. But please don't quit on this chapter, kay?**

 **Don't own Zootopia.**


	7. Chapter 7: Yum, donuts

**Bam! Got this in before the end of the second week! Ha!**

 **You have no idea how dang hard it was to write this darned chapter (for reasons you won't see until I explain at the end). But time to answer reviews and stuff.**

 **Jack905: Yup. She's pretty much lucky. There's going to be a thing about that in the future chapters.**

 **Jack905 (anon): Well, not exactly what I had in mind, but she** ** _did_** **have some bad experiences with handcuffs. It'll be explained later.**

 **Very Anon Anon: Heh heh. Oh, she'll** ** _definitely_** **be dealing with the police. Heh heh.**

 **Guest: yup.**

 **Sydney: Here ya' go!**

 **ADutchMarine: Thanks for the song suggestions!**

 **Okay, I** ** _think_** **I got everybody? Sorry if I didn't. Now on with the story!**

 _"_ _Watch this!" cried the little blonde-haired girl. She threw the stone across the tiles and hop-scotched across, performing elaborate spins and leaps. It wasn't very graceful (she nearly fell over twice), but her friend clapped anyway when she reached the stone and picked it up._

 _"_ _Didjya' learn that in dance?" the young African-American asked._

 _Her friend shook her head, "Nope! Momma taught me! She said that the dance at school didn't teach me well enough, so she went and taught me herself!"_

 _She stared in amazement, "I with my Momma did that."_

 _"_ _My Momma says she's worried about your Momma."_

 _The girl fidgeted nervously, "Why'd she say that, Gabby? Ain't nothin' wrong with my Mom."_

 _Gabby shrugged, not noticing her friend's discomfort, "Ah, you know. You're always missing school and always look like some mean bully took it out on you. Momma was talking about it, but stopped when she saw I was listening."_

 _She crossed her arms defensively, "Ain't no bully takin' anything out on me. I already punched Eli's lights out. I just fall off my bike a lot."_

 _"_ _You don't have a bike."_

 _"_ _Do to. I just never showed ya'."_

 _"_ _Why not?"_

 _"'_ _Cause I don't want to."_

 _Gabby stared out her friend for a moment before shrugging. She didn't show her a lot of stuff. This was no different. "Then why don't ya' come to school?"_

 _"_ _Already told you. I don't wanna'."_

 _"_ _Why?"_

 _"'_ _Cause I'm no good."_

 _"_ _But don't your parents get mad at you? Mine do whenever I play sick. I tried it once, and Mom grounded me for a week."_

 _She shrugged, "They don't care what I do. Only one time when a teacher called 'em and asked them about it. They… grounded me too, I guess."_

 _The eight-year-old sighed in admiration, "Your parents are so cool. They don't even care if you don't go to school. I wish my Momma was like yours," she didn't see her friend wince, "When can I meet them? They're always gone when I come over."_

 _"_ _They're… busy. Can I sleep over tonight?"_

 _"_ _Why?"_

 _"_ _Daddy is… doing things with his friends tonight. They play games together and Daddy doesn't want me in the way."_

 _"_ _Can't I meet him?"_

 _"_ _No. Not tonight."_

 _"_ _Oh. Okay. I'll ask Momma about it."_

 _"_ _Can I ask you somethin', Gaby?"_

 _"_ _Sure!"_

 _"_ _We're friends, right?"_

 _Gaby hugged her buddy, "You're my_ best friend!"

 _"_ _Then… if I tried to run away, will you be mad?"_

 _She stared in confusion, "Like… run away to my house?"_

 _"_ _No. I mean run away. Far, far away."_

 _"_ _How far?"_

 _"_ _Really far."_

 _"_ _Like… Mrs. Timpson's apartment?"_

 _She shook her head, "No. Even farther than that."_

 _"_ _For how long?"_

 _"_ _For forever."_

 _Gabby frowned, "Why would you do something like that?"_

 _She opened her mouth to say something, but then shook her head, "Never mind. Don't tell your Momma I said that."_

 _"_ _Are you going to run away?"_

 _She shrugged, "I don't know. Just forget about it. I'm not runnin' away any time soon, okay?"_

 _Gabby stared at her friend in worry, "Okay… but if you do, will we still be best friends?"_

 _She nodded instantly, "Definitely. You'll always be my best friend, no matter what."_

 _She held out a pinky, "Pinky promise?"_

 _She nodded and held out her own pinky, "Pinky promise."_

 **. . .**

I woke up with a groan. I've been drifting in and out of sleep for… well, I actually don't know for how long. I was asleep.

I squinted at the dark sky above me. It was around midnight, and I still have no idea how I survived.

After I jumped, I landed in a river and blacked out. But it must have only been for a few seconds, because when I woke up my foot was stuck under a log and I was completely submerged in water. I eventually freed myself, but lost my shoe and hurt my ankle real bad. I caught a piece of floating driftwood and floated down the river half-conscious. I eventually washed up on the bank and I crawled under a bridge. Thank goodness that it was night.

I resurveyed my wounds. I had long ago fixed my nose (though it still hurt like heck) and my ankle was all swollen and bruised. I couldn't even move it without hurting myself. I had ripped off a piece of my sweatshirt and wrapped it around my gash on my arm (it took me about fifteen minutes to rip off a piece of my stupid sweatshirt. They make it look much easier in the movies). I had lots of bruises everywhere, but I couldn't even feel them due to how cold I was.

I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. I longed for my backpack. It had a lot of useful stuff in there that I could use. A blanket, a crappy first-aid kit, duct tape, food, a water bottle, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

 _Ugh. Why did I leave behind my freaking backpack? I'm completely helpless right now! I might as well wave a flashlight and shout 'mug me'!_

I curled up and shivered again. It was cold and I felt dizzy. Probably caught hypothermia. Almost to prove my point, I let out a sneeze followed by a fit of coughs.

I leaned back and sighed. _'Great,'_ I thought, _'I'm going to die not with a bang, not with a shout, but a sneeze.'_

I should've just listened to Jake. If I wasn't being so stupid, I could be in my little dumpster pretending to read the newspaper comics.

The cold air seemed to cut right through my three layers of clothing (jacket, sweatshirt, and shirt). The river was slow and calm. The bridge was completely empty (or at least, I couldn't hear any cars passing above me). The pubic trash a few feet away from me rustled slightly (I think I was near some sort of park or biking area or something). The night was peaceful and calm, but even the slightest wind sent me into a fit of shivers. Most of my bleeding had stopped at this point, and all pain had reduced to a cold, numb throb.

Speaking of throbs, I had a huge headache. Felt like there was some sort of mini-man pounding a hammer against my skull.

I stared blankly at some graffiti above me. I could already feel myself losing consciousness. I've been like this ever since I washed to shore. Just drifting in and out of consciousness. I'm pretty sure I already said all of this, but I was too tired to care.

The low rumbling of a car was heard. Headlights passed above me. I curled up into myself and hoped that the car wouldn't stop. So what did it do? It stopped.

There was the slam of a car door followed by some heavy footsteps. I saw a dark, fat silhouette make its way down the slope and put something in the trash. He was humming to himself as he dropped what looked like a soda and an empty box of donuts into the trash (though it was hard to see in the dim headlights).

I was already falling asleep again when he turned around. I saw his eyes widen in shock and then fear as he followed the trail of blood to my huddled form. "OMGoodness," I heard him whisper.

Using every last bit of energy I had, I croaked, _"Don't h-hurt, please."_

And then I blacked out.

 **. . .**

I woke up before I opened my eyes.

You guys know that feeling, right? Where you wake up but not really. Like you're aware of your surroundings but not fully awake yet? Like some sort of weird cross of reality and dreaming?

I was doing that.

The first thing I noticed was the pain. Without the cold river water soaking into my clothes, the numbness had disappeared and I was able to feel everything to a full extent. My arm hurt, my foot was throbbing, my head was a drum, and my nose was all stuffed up. Not to mention all the bruises and cuts from everything. I heard myself do some sort of groan-whimper thing and I curled into myself. I was surprised to touch my bare arm.

 _That_ got me awake. I jolted up and looked down on myself, relieved to see that I still had my T-shirt. My coat and sweatshirt were missing, but my sweatpants and shirt were still there.

The next thing I noticed was that there was a bright, fluffy blanket draped over me. I was laying on a couch in what appeared to be an apartment. There was a squeak in front of me.

I looked up and saw the fat form of a cheetah. He was hiding behind a recliner with a tazer gun pointed right at me. "O-okay… I w-want you to… not… eat m-me, please."

I gave him a confused look. "Whare anm I?" I winced at my own voice. It was raspy and slurred. I cleared my throat and tried again, "Wh-where am I? And who are you?"

The cheetah's hands shook as he slowly stepped from behind the couch. I heard him whisper, _"Remember your training. Remember your training,"_ over and over again beneath his breath. "Y-you aren't the one in the position t-to be asking questions."

I looked over the cheetah once, twice, three times before deeming him not a threat. If he wanted to shoot me, he would have done so already. Speaking of which…

"Wh-why the heck am I here? Why didn't ya' turn me over or somethin'?"

A flash of panic passed over his face as he tried to think of a good answer. Finally, his shoulders slumped and he lowered his gun in defeat, "I'm sorry. I'm not very good at the 'intimidating' thing."

"Umm… that's okay," I wasn't sure how to react to his sudden change of mood.

He started to pant and fan himself, "Oh jeez. I am not used to this much amount of stress. My goodness." He made a wide circle around me and walked to the kitchen. He came back with a donut. "Omkhay," he said through a mouth full of frosting, "N'm gohing t' ask ywou some questions, m'kay?" he swallowed and dusted off his hands, "Can you grant wishes?"

"…no?"

"Aww, donuts!" he cried, stomping a foot, "So Theory 108 was wrong!"

"Err, right." I tried to scoot away, but was stopped from a pain in my… well, everywhere. My stomach let out a growl. The cheetah stared and I blushed in embarrassment. I tried to block any more sound but it came out anyway. The cheetah gasped.

"Ohmygosh! I am so sorry! I should have—here! Give me a sec!" he jogged back to the kitchen and brought back a box of donuts. "Here! Pick one."

I eyed the box with distrust, but his face shone with so much expectance that I couldn't help but take one. He clapped his hands, "Ooh! Maple! Good choice!"

I didn't even know I took maple. I was just so confused I didn't even know how to react. I've woken up in strange places before with no idea how I got there (take Zootopia, for example), but I usually have some basic guidelines of how to deal with it. For example, if this was a normal kidnapping situation thing, I would act confident and unafraid. If he just brought me here to negotiate me, then I'd play dumb.

But this isn't a normal negotiating situation. And it was just he was acting so… _friendly._ Heck, he seemed more afraid of me than I was of him. He wasn't establishing an air of authority like he should be doing. Jeez, you'd think he'd at least know how to do _that._

Well, if he wasn't going to do it, _I_ will.

I sprawled back on the couch as if I belonged there and took a huge bite from the donut. I placed a bored look on my face and refused to show any pain from the sudden movement, "Well, are you going to tell me who you are or not?"

The cheetah quickly shook his head, his neck flab jiggling as he fumbled with the tazer again, "Nuh-uh. I'm the officer here, and you'll be answering _my_ questions."

 _Oh biscuits. He's an_ officer? I would have never guessed from the green shirt and jeans. Though… I guess the police aren't _always_ in uniform. It never occurred to me that they would have, like, _actual lives._ I guess in hindsight it should have been obvious who he was. I mean, who else would have donuts and tazers lying around? Still, I refused to let the fear show as I took another bite from the donut. I really _was_ hungry. "If you want any answers from me, you're going to have ta' tell me who you are first."

The cheetah pouted but replied anyway, "My name is Benjamin Clawhauser."

"Ben, huh? And… where am I?"

"My apartment, of course!"

"Uh huh… and why am I here?"

"Well, uh… you were hurt, see," Ben shuffled around nervously, "And you asked me not to hurt you anymore, so I thought that I should just bring you home and patch you up here!"

I looked over my sloppily placed bandages, "And shouldn't you have… I don't know… taken me to a professional or somethin'? Or turn me in? Not that I'm complaining, of course."

The cheetah shrugged, "If I turned you in, you wouldn't have been able to answer my questions." He grinned and sat down, pulling out a pen and notepad.

 _Ahhh, so he's doing it out of curiosity._ After weighing my options a bit, I finally decided to play his game a bit. At least it bought me time. "Shoot."

Ben squealed excitedly and started to read something off of his phone. "So some people are calling you the Maker of Mayhem. How do you respond?"

"Maker of… why on Earth would I make mayhem?"

Ben nodded and wrote my 'answer' down, "Mm-hmm. Thank you. Now, a deeper question. New species have been found before, due to cross marriages, but all are recorded and documented. Not only have you appeared from nowhere, conspiracy theorists claimed to have hacked into the government emails and found out that a large surge of energy appeared the day you were first spotted. Are you just an unrecorded species, and the government are just connecting the energy surge to you, or are you actually from a different world?"

I stared and Benjamin with bulbous eyes. I was not used to that long of sentences. "…what?"

He sighed and put away his phone, "Sorry. Darn internet and fancy wording. Are you from another world?"

Okay. Now _that's_ a simple sentences I can follow. "Yeah, I guess you can say that…"

"I knew it!" he squealed excitedly. He did an air pump and ate another donut. "I knew slothFlash100_Dash was right!"

"Sloth who now?"

"A Mootuber," Clawhauser quickly explained, "He does uber great vids. You should check him out."

"Okay…" _What the heck is a 'Mootuber'?_

"Next question!" he checked his phone again, "You have threatened a police officer _and_ a young cheetah woman. What is it you want from us, you beast?" Ben narrowed his eyes at the phone screen, _"Well that's not a very nice question._ Who the heck wrote _that_ one?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Cheetah woman? When the heck did I… oh. _Oh._ Wait a moment. You mean that one lady who I…!?" I burst out laughing. "You mean _that_ idiot who bought my Christmas ordainments? Oh jeez…"

Clawhauser looked up in confusion, "Bought ordainments? She said you forced her to give up 195 dollars…"

I finished my last fit of giggles and snorted, "You're really believin' _that_ stuck up? Heheh. Nah, I sold her some lightbulbs and called 'em decorations. She just didn't want to admit she spent _195 dollars_ on trash."

The cheetah looked at me unconvinced but wrote my answer down anyway, "Okay… but what about Officer Wilde?"

"Oh! Umm…" I laughed nervously, unsure how to answer. I took another bite from my donut to buy myself some time. I chewed as slowly as I can, resisting the urge to wolf the whole thing down. Showing hunger was showing weakness. I finally shrugged defensively, "I wasn't going to hurt 'im. Honest! I was just… trying to get out of the situation."

I figured if this Clawhauser guy was writing all of this down, he might show these notes to someone else later. Who knows? Maybe I can convince somebody I'm not completely bent on destroying the galaxy or whatever.

Ben furrowed his brows and wrote it down, "Nick said something like that in one of his reviews, you know… ahh, never mind. Next question. What are you?"

"I come from a species known as 'humans'," I wiggled my fingers dramatically, "From a far off planet known as Earth."

"No way!" Ben gasped, "That's what our planet is called too!"

"…really?"

"Yes!" he answered excitedly, but soon the grin turned to a confused frown, "But… that doesn't make any sense…"

"Hey, how 'bout you move on to the next question, huh?" I urged. He slapped himself, "Right! Right! Sorry. Gazelle and a few others have led peace rallies to your defense, urging others to talk to you before hunting you. They believe that you are confused and mean no harm to us, while Lionheart is using all the resources available to find you. Who is right?"

I groaned and rubbed my temples, "Look man. I was never good at paying attention to long at questions like that (which is probably why I failed at school so badly). Can you like, squash all that into one sentence? You lost me at 'peace rallies'."

"Oh sorry!" Clawhauser gasped, "I keep forgetting you're probably not fluent in our language!"

"No, no. It's not that! It's just—"

"Hush! Say no more! I got you covered, girl," Ben rescanned the question before asking, "Do you want to hurt us, or is it all one big misunderstanding?"

"One big, complete, crazy misunderstanding."

He fist pumped, "Yes! I just _knew_ Gazelle was right! I just knew it! Haha! And Marty thought I was wrong! Ha!" after he finished his fat little victory dance, he ran out of breath and sat down. "Well, I guess I need to turn you over to the police department now."

I nearly jumped out of my seat in shock, "What!?"

Ben put away his notepad and shrugged, "You answered all my questions, and Chief Bogo told me specifically, _'Clawhauser, if you ever find that Mudder—'_ "

"Mudder?"

"That's what people are calling you," he explained, "because, you know, your skin is the color of mud."

I blushed and self-consciously rubbed my arms, "Ahh, I see. Go on."

"Anyway, he said, ' _If you ever find that Mudder, bring it straight to us. No horsing around!'_ And that's when I said, _'Yes Chief!'_ and returned to the desk. And then that's when Marty came over and we began to get into a _friendly_ debate on who was right and—"

"Ben?"

"Yeah?"

"Please keep your sentences limited when it comes to boring subjects."

"Oops, sorry."

I finished the last bite of my donut and clapped my hands, hoping that Ben forgot about turning me in during his long monologue, "Well! I guess that's it for now. I _really_ need to get home now and feed my… goldfish. So if you can just get me a stick or something to walk with…"

"What? Nonononono!" he ran over and gently pushed me back down on the couch, "You're to hurt to move! I'll just get Chief Bogo over here and he'll help you get the proper care you need, okay?"

I looked over the cheetah once again. I have long ago deemed him not a threat, but he still could hurt me as much as any other animal (whether knowingly or not). "Haha no. I don't think your Chief will… I don't know… like me very much?"

"Oohh, everybody says that. But don't worry. He's a big softie once you get to know him!"

 _"_ _I don't think I'll_ have _the chance to get to know him,"_ I muttered beneath my breath, "Look, Ben, can't you just like, let me go? I answered your questions, you gave me a donut. We'll both leave happy, yeah?" I tried to get up, but instantly collapsed on the floor due to my foot. Benjamin helped me up. Why was he acting so darn _nice?_ "Besides, I'd rather not be t-turned in to the government."

"B-but I'm not turning you over to the government! I'm giving you to Bozo!" he gave me a toothy smile, and I rolled my eyes. Was he an idiot, or just naïve?

I pushed him off of me and hopped on one foot over to the door, only to crash land on the carpet. I moaned and clutched my bruised side. I had a feeling this was not helping my health.

Ben watched worriedly from the sidelines. A bunch of emotions passed over his face as he watched me struggle. And then he finally blurted, "Do you want to stay with me?"

I gave him a weird look, "Wh-what?"

"You can stay with me," Benjamin explained, "You're too hurt to go out there alone, and you _obviously_ won't let me give you over to Chief Bozo (and I'd rather not force you into anything you're uncomfortable with), so you can stay with me until we work something out!" he gave me a nervous grin, "I promise not to blab on you."

I considered my options. I could either wander the streets aimlessly in hopes of finding Jake (I had no idea where I was), or I could stay with this overly-nice, idiotic (naïve?), cheetah.

Neither of the options sounded good. He could easily betray me at any given moment. But if I went outside, and ran into someone less than friendly…

Like that weasel. And polar bear. They'll be on the lookout for me (as if they weren't already before). Heh. They won't be too happy with the stained car either. I'd be dead before I could say 'uncle'.

Well, at least I could get donuts, right?

"Fine," I sighed, "But _only_ until I heal." _As if it was my decision on how long I stayed anyway._

Benjamin squealed in delight, "I should totally show you my Gazelle collection!" then he quickly added, "You _need_ to be accustomed to our culture, after all."

I slowly inched my way up the floor. I should probably stay on this guy's good side if he was going to let me stay here, "Sure, why not."

He squealed again and pulled me into the other room (me barely keeping up on my one foot). Jeez, he was going to give me _another_ headache with all that squealing.

' _Well, at least I have a place to stay,'_ I thought, _'If only for a little while.'_

Besides, who can say no to free donuts?

 **Can you see why I had trouble with this chapter? It's because of Clawhauser! He is so hard to write for! He only get's like, five lines! How am I supposed to write for a guy like that when he has such a big personality? He was so hard and I hated every second of it. I hated this chapter so much.**

 **But whatever. It's done now. I finished it (not the story unfortunately, the chapter). I hoped you guys liked it okay.**

 **But tell me how you guys liked it in the reviews! I absolutely love reviews. (also, I want to see how many people are actually still reading this). So please review guys! Tell me what you thought of it! And in turn, I'll try to get motivation for this story again.**

 **So that's it guys! See you in the next update! Don't be afraid to review! Tell me what you thought!**

 **Don't own Zootopia.**


	8. Chapter 8: Ew, coffee

**Yay! Early update! I know I am going to regret this later. But I'm excited. You know why? Because I finally have a plot planned!**

 **For those of you who read the A/N, you would know that I started this as an experiment. So as far as plots go, I had nothing. But then recently I decided to take this story in a completely new route! So this will come a** ** _bit_** **out of the blue, but I think it's be worth it.**

 **And also, thank you all so much for reviewing! It really motivated me.**

 **SilentAngel33: I think he'd be a great YouTuber. XD**

 **Blackrose3107: Oh, patience is a virtue. She** ** _will_** **get caught, but not in the way you think...**

 **Luck out: Well then, fantastic for you.**

 **nick495: Glad you're liking it then!**

 **Sydney: I did! I did update soon (I just hope you see it, being a guest and all).**

 **reviewer: uh... first of all, language. Second of all, that was about seven pages long, so...**

 **ImaginationMachine: I kinda' do in this chapter.**

It's been a few days since I crashed at Clawhauser's, and so far he hasn't' betrayed me. So that's…. good news.

All the good news stops there.

Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy and all, but seriously! Personal space, please! I like to think I'm more social than the average homeless person (most of them are just plain hermits), but I'm not used to all of… _this._

Luckily for me, he spends most of his time at work. I usually stay in the apartment and watch TV (I recently became very interested in this one show called _Doctor Hoo)_ , but then I get super bored. And I don't like staying in one place to long. It gives me too much time to think. But being trapped in an _apartment_ of all places is twice as bad. The last apartment I actually lived in was my parents', and staying there poked at my bad memories.

So why didn't I leave, you ask? Well, it's because every time I tried to walk away from the couch, I'd face plant into the floor. The farthest I've ever gone is the kitchen (for food), and the bathroom (for the toilet and a much needed shower).

So you'd think that I'd be happy when Ben finally comes home—and at first, I am—but the guy is constantly up in my face. I think he's better just to hang around with than to live with. He's a nice friendly face to see at work or on the street, but living with him is a whole other level. He tells me about his day (which is okay if I could actually pay attention), then he shows me Gazelle videos (I am _so sick_ of Gazelle), and then we eat donuts. And talk. And eat some more. And talk. And more talking. And talking. And squealing. And talking.

I am so sick of talking.

Please don't get me wrong though. Ben is very nice and bubbly. And I don't think he'd be this up in my face if it wasn't for the fact that I was injured (he probably feels obliged to keep me entertained), but I think he's a guy that should be paired up with someone more socially adept, not a homeless girl.

The only really sour moment we actually had though was when he asked about those 'funky lines' all over my arms. I quickly shut that question down. I had forgotten all about my scars. My sweatshirt usually covered all those up.

But there is one thing I _do_ like about the apartment, and it's the food.

There's _always_ food. I have never felt so full in my life. Even when I lived with my parents, their version of food was in a bottle. But _here,_ man, there is so much food. I can eat all day and not worry about running out. In fact, I _did_ eat all day once, but then I kinda' threw it all back up later.

Between the eating and sitting, I started to realize that I may start to head down the direction of obesity. When I first thought of it, I shook it off, but when Ben came home with a donut stuck in the folds of his neck I decided to slow down a bit.

If staying at Ben's taught me one thing, it that not all food has to be eaten at once. It's not going to disappear tomorrow. I can take my time.

To most of you, that's probably common knowledge. But to me, it was a revelation.

So so far, life at Ben's been good. Despite some annoyances, I've been living it up real like a king (compared to what I'm used to, at least). And he has not turned me over either. I dare say I might have found another companion in Zootopia. Another helping ha… well, paw.

I was in a middle of watching a new episode of Doctor Hoo when I heard talking in the hall. _Hm? Back already?_

I turned off the TV, vowing to return to it later and turned around to greet him. But then I noticed something weird about the talking. It was not only Clawhauser talking to a neighbor, it was… _someone I never heard before?_ Or… have I?

I tuned into the conversation.

 _"_ _What are you hiding, Clawhauser?"_

 _"_ _Yeah, since when do you_ hide _stuff?"_

 _"_ _Okay, I know this is very rude of me, but don't freak, okay?"_

My heart started to race.

 _"_ _Why? What is it?"_

 _"…_ _You'll just have to see…"_

The door creaked open, and I jumped to my single foot in my defensive position.

And there, standing in the doorway, behind the person I thought I could trust, was the bunny and fox.

Officer Hopps and… Nick Wilde.

 **. . .**

We started our conversation by screaming.

It was the bunny who screamed first, and then me, and then Wilde, and then finally Clawhauser.

We all just stood their screaming like maniacs.

I don't think we even knew why we were screaming, we just screamed because everyone else was doing it.

It was the bunny who reacted first. She—still in her uniform—pulled out a gun from her hostler and aimed it right at me. I instinctively put my hands above my head.

"Stay behind me. I got it covered," she commanded as she turned off the safety.

"Carrots, what are you—!"

"Stay back Nick! It's not going to hurt you again!"

"Wait! Judy!"

She fired just as Ben tried to grab the gun. The bullet hit the TV.

Well, so much for my show.

The Officer reloaded but this time Ben jumped in front of her, "Wait! Judy!"

"Clawhauser! Get out of my way! You can show me what you were hiding later!"

"No! Wait! This _is_ what I was hiding!"

The bunny and fox faltered. "…what?"

Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath, when he opened them he put on a strained smile, "Judy, Nick, I want you to meet Emily. Emily, Judy and Nick."

I only glared in their direction and grabbed for the makeshift crutches me and Clawhauser made, "Ben, can I ask ya' something?" he nodded eagerly, "Okay. Can you tell me… WHAT ARE THEY FREAKING DOING HERE?"

"Yeah, Clawhauser," the bunny growled as she put away the gun, "What is _she_ doing here?"

"Man, when I noticed you were acting weird, I didn't realize that it was because you were hiding an _alien_ in your closet," the fox chuckled darkly.

"Not an alien, a human," I corrected, "A human _you_ shot at!" I screamed ant pointed a Judy.

"You threatened Nick with a fire extinguisher!"

"I was stressed!"

Ben covered his ears, "Sh! Shhh! No fighting please! Lalalalala!"

 _"_ _She_ started it!"

"Okay!" it was then Nick, of all people, who stepped in, "You can solve a lot of things by talking, but not by yelling hysterically. Carrots, please keep your emotional tendencies under control!"

Judy stomped her foot agitatedly, "For the last time Nick. Bunny's are _not_ emotionally unsta—"

"And Mudder!" Nick turned to me, "No shooting."

"I'm not the one who—"

"Clawhauser!"

Ben uncovered his ears.

"Please get us some donuts and a nice cup of coffee, sir. We've got lots of explaining ahead of us and I'd rather do it over coffee."

Ben nodded and scurried to the kitchen. Once we all sat down at the couch (me as far away from the traitor and enemies as possible) we each grabbed a donut and held a cup of coffee.

I stared into my cup and swirled it around a bit. I never had coffee before. I wonder what it tastes like?

I took a sip and instantly gagged. Bitter. Very bitter. Not enough sweetness. Way too strong for my taste.

So I instead tried to dip a donut _into_ the coffee. Maybe that would make up for the lack of sugar.

I took a bite and gagged again.

I set my cup down and grabbed a second donut.

It was at this point when I noticed that they were all staring at me attentively. Judy was clutching her cup and glaring, Ben looked like he wanted to disappear in his seat, while Nick wore some sort of neutral expression.

I cleared my throat and smiled at Judy.

She began to crack her cup.

I decided not to smile at Judy anymore.

"Well!" I said with a forced grin, "I know we kinda' got off on the wrong foot and all, with me kicking you the first time we met, and you trying to arrest me, and me holding you for ransom, and you shooting me. But! That doesn't mean that we can't be frie—no, not friends. I'm terrible at friends. Umm, how about friendly acquaintances, yeah?" No answer. "Okay. I didn't want to be acquaintances either. How about you not turning me in?" No answer. "Look. I'm trying to break the awkward silence. Help me out a bit."

It was Ben who finally answered, "Emily! I'm so sorry! I didn't want to tell them! They were just so… so… _intimidating."_

"We walked in, Judy said hi, I asked why you were acting weird, and you nearly wet yourself," Nick argued.

"But you were giving me that look! It was some sort of… _intimidating look."_

I ran my hand through my hair and sighed, "You know what? Whatever. I only knew you for a few days anyway. I was an idiot to think that just 'cause you _acted_ nice didn't mean you would betray me in the end."

Clawhauser looked shocked, "B-but I—!"

"Whatever," I cut in, "It's in the past. I'm just glad you told _them_ instead of Bogo. But seriously Ben, _them?"_

"He was intimidating me!"

"I asked you a question."

"Why are we arguing for this… this… _thing!"_ Judy yelled, "Let's just turn it in already and be done with it! We're committing mutiny right now as we speak!"

Despite her rude descriptions of me, Judy was bringing up some good points. Like, _what was I still doing here?_ And _shouldn't I be running?_

Nick turned to Judy, "Woah, hey, Carrots. Calm down."

"It hurt you, Nick!"

"She literally just forced me to walk a little ways. Goodness knows how much I needed to exercise," he gave me a half-lidded grin, "Actually, the idea with the extinguisher was quite impressive. You ever hear of hustling, sweetheart?"

I stared at him with wide-eyes. _Was he actually… defending me?_

"Nick! Stop defending it!"

Officer Wilde held up his hands defensively, "Woah, I'm not defending anything. I just want to know where that fire extinguisher came from…. And also what's she doing here in Ben's apartment."

Judy prepared for another screaming argument but then faltered. She turned her head to Ben (who has been sitting nervously between the two the entire time), "Yeah Clawhauser. What _is_ it doing here in your apartment?"

Ben laughed nervously, "W-well… haha. It's actually a pretty funny story, actually. Sounds like something that you would see on TV… or fanfiction…"

Nick yawned, "Stay on topic, Clawhauser."

"Oh! Right! So anyway, I was driving home, and, like, I had some trash. And I didn't want to litter because I'm an officer and that would be counterproductive, so I pulled over to throw away some trash. But then I saw lots of blood…"

"Blood?" Judy asked.

"Blood," he confirmed, "L-lots and lots of it. And then I saw E-Emily under the bridge. And she seemed very scared and she told me not to hurt her anymore, so I managed to move her to my car—"

Nick stared at Ben in doubt, _"You_ moved _that…_ to your car."

"Yes!" Clawhauser exclaimed, not catching the sarcasm, "All by myself! She was dripping _everywhere!_ But eventually I was able to get her to my apartment. I cleaned her up and bandaged her shoulder and put a sling around her foot—"

"What's wrong with her shoulder and foot?"

I rolled my eyes and pointed to the said body parts, "Claw wound. River wound."

Nick motioned to the scabs covering my face and hands, "And your face?"

"Flying wound."

"Ahh…"

"Anyway," Judy cut in, "Go on Clawhauser."

"I fixed her up, gave her a donut, did an interview, and then—"

"You did an interview?!" Judy exclaimed.

Ben, a bit exasperated from all the interruptions, huffed in annoyance but nodded.

Judy jumped to her feet, "Why didn't you say so sooner? Where is it?" he pointed to a drawer and the ecstatic bunny ran over.

While she was ruffling through the drawers Nick dipped his donut in coffee then nodded to Ben, "Go on."

"So after all that, she woke up. After a little disagreement, we settled on her staying here, and me not turning her in."

"That… doesn't benefit you at all."

"Found it!" Judy cried. We all winced and rubbed our ears from the sudden outburst. She brought the notebook over and opened it excitedly, "The first actual recorded evidence! Not myths! Not lies! Not hoaxes! The real thing!"

I, who had tried to stay as quiet as possible, could not resist the urge of a smart remark, "What? Am I not good enough for you?"

"Hush!" she ordered. She scanned through the paper before frowning, "I… this… this is nothing!"

Ben appeared a little hurt at that remark, "It's not nothing."

"Well, of course it's not _nothing,"_ Judy replied quickly, "B-but… other world? Humans? Selling lightbulbs as ornaments? This isn't an interview! This is a lie!"

I stared at her with lazed eyes, "Sounds ta' me you don't want what's _true,_ but what's good for _you."_

Yep. I saw right threw her little tantrum. She didn't want to believe all that. She wanted to see me as an enemy. She _wanted_ a reason to lock me up. But I'm not going to go down easy. I knew that much.

Judy shook her head, "Th-this is all a lie. You can't get to other worlds. And… And I'm going have to take you in." She stood up and straightened pulled out her badge, "You are now under arrest by the ZPD for lying to an officer, stealing, being an unrecorded species, threatening an officer, causing havoc and mutiny, suspected criminal activity, _and_ suspected participation in illegal cross breeding. You will come quickly and quietly, miss…?" she gave me a knowing smile. She was mocking me.

I didn't like being mocked.

In my mind, I said something sassy, ran out the door laughing, and then slashed their tires on the way out. What _actually_ happened was me making some sort of weird squeaking sound, turning around and landing on my face, and Judy taking out her handcuffs. I got to me hands and knees and glared, "Get those things away from me."

Judy ignored me and handcuffed my hands behind my back, "C'mon Nick. We gotta' get her back to headquarters."

Nick gave me a sympathetic look before groaning loudly and heaving himself from the couch. Clawhauser rushed in front of the doorway, "No Judy! You c-can't do this! Emily isn't bad."

"Bad or not, we need to turn her in," she answered stiffly, "We're committing mutiny right now as we speak. They'll give her a fair trial and then we'll have to let fate decide."

I stumbled to my feet, "Will they though? I mean, I don't know a lot about laws and stuff… but technically, I'm not one of you. Those protection laws don't apply to me. And from what I've seen in movies, the government will be looking for every loophole possible to get me out of the courthouse and into the labs."

Judy sighed and her ears drooped a bit, "Let's go, Mudder."

Ben moved out of the way and mouthed _sorry._ I didn't look at him. That traitor didn't deserve my look. It was _his_ fault that I was in this mess.

 _'_ _No it isn't,'_ and annoying voice in my head said, _'You were the one who didn't listen to Jake.'_

I ignored the voice.

 _'_ _Stop blaming everyone else for your problems and take responsibility for once.'_

I do take responsibility.

 _'_ _No you don't.'_

Do to.

 _'_ _Do not.'_

Do to!

 _'_ _Do not!.'_

It's not my fault I'm a freaking stupid teenager!

 _'_ _And there you go again. Blaming other things and refusing to take responsibility for your actions. Pretending it's not your fault.'_

I ignored myself.

 _'_ _Kinda' like our parents, huh? Always blaming us for their problems…'_

Stop rambling. I need to figure this out.

I shut off any stray thoughts. I needed to focus. Unfortunately, I was handcuffed and pretty much hopping all the way down the hall. Judy and Nick were trying to help me the best they could (they're not completely heartless, it turns out), but they are like, half my height.

If Clawhauser came down, he could have helped us out a bit, but apparently not.

Well, you know what? I don't care. I can take care of myself. It always worked before. I need to look out for number one: me. Why am I worrying about idiotic blabbermouths like Clawhauser?

We exited the elevator and headed for the backdoor (so we wouldn't run into the front desk lady). I briefly thought about pulling out the same kick maneuver I tried the first time, but then I realized that would mean using both of my feet. Couldn't do that.

I tried struggling a bit (even with my bad arm) but Officer Hopps quickly put a stop to it by whispering, _"I_ really _don't want to do this, but if you pull of any funny business, I_ might _have to dart you."_

Well, so much for that plan.

We neared the door, and I had to think of something. Fast.

My brain reeled. I searched around for something to grab. A tablecloth. An apple. A fire extinguisher. _Anything._ But the hall leading to the back door was completely empty. Except…

 _Except a fire alarm!_

I grinned, a plan already set in my mind. I was about to put it into action when Nick caught my eye. He quickly guided me away from the wall, "Woah, Wise Guy," he said, "What is it with you and fire things, huh?"

"What was that, Nick?" Judy asked.

"She was about to pull the fire alarm."

Judy glared in my direction and pointed to her hostler threateningly, "Remember what I said?"

I felt myself begin to panic. Why didn't my plan work? My plans _always_ work… or at least, most of the time. At first I was kinda' cool with the whole situation. Hey, I escaped these cops twice now, I can do it again, right? But this time they were prepared. I underestimated this fox and bunny. Judy was keeping a surprisingly tight grip on me while Nick had apparently been keeping a closer eye on me than I thought.

My heartbeat raced as we neared the door. Maybe there will be more ideas out there? The streets are my safezones. I can figure something out there.

But despite my meek hope for an idea outside, before I even knew it, I began to ramble. "Of course I remember what you said. But you can't blame a guy for tryin' to save her own skin, right?"

"Oh, like when you threatened Nick?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yes! You see, I live a very stressful life style, and sometimes I do things I regret only because it's the only thing I can think of. Haven't you ever done something you regretted because of a stressful situation?"

Officer Wilde gave a lazy smirk, "One time I was flushed down the toilet by Officer Toot Toot over there."

"Nick! I was flushed too!"

"But it was your idea."

"See!" I exclaimed, trying not to show my confusion, "Ya' know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Definitely," Nick nodded.

"Then how 'bout you let me go and forget this ever happened. We'll both part on our merry ways and live happily ever after!"

Judy quickly checked something on her phone and smiled, "Life ain't like that, sweetheart."

"Woah, Carrots, was that some sass there? I think I may have a bad influence on you."

I barely kept my relieved grin down. This conversation was going great! They were loosening up, Judy actually smiled, and they were doing friendly teasing. Maybe there's hope after all!

"So… can you let me go?"

"No."

Apparently not.

We reached the door and Nick stepped in front of us and opened it. He bowed deeply, "Ladies."

"Nick, just don't," Judy sighed.

As soon as we stepped out the door, I searched around for possible escape routes. I saw a fire escape, and immediately started planning. But all planning stopped when I heard voices around the corner.

"Hey, don't blame _me_ if I'm wrong. The source isn't very reliable and you know it, but that's just what he said!"

"Okay, sure. So the cheetah has been keeping the TV on all day. Big deal. That doesn't automatically mean he's hiding something."

I froze up. I recognized those voices. Beside me, Nick tensed and Judy twitched her nose curiously.

"But if it _is_ who we think it is…"

"But if it's not."

"C'mon. The river's practically right there. And if there's _anyone_ who would take in that creature, it's Claw—" the two voices rounded the corner and instantly saw us. I wanted to bolt right then and there, but my ankle and handcuffs stopped me.

The polar bear and weasel grinned.

"Well, speak of the devil…"

 **And... done! Cliffie! Plot starter! This thing is going places, people! Just take bear with this story for a little bit longer folks! Things are about to start happening.**

 **And also, I found this quote that I thought went perfect for Emily in this chapter:**

 _ **"It was a mistake," you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you.**_

 _ **\- David Levithan**_

 _ **So reviews are really beyond appreciated! Did you think anyone was OC? Did I get everybody's reactions right (including Emily's)? Are you liking the new direction I'm taking? I like to hear what ya'll think!**_

 _ **Also, I'm taking a writing class right now, so I may not be able to write as much as I am able. But I'll try to get the next chapter finished as soon as possible. But that's it for this chapter! Bye!**_

 _ **Don't own Zootopia.**_


	9. The Ride I Hoped to Never Get

**Hey! I'm back! And before y'all scream at me, I have an excuse for the lateness! Two, actually!**

 **First Excuse: Not a lot of free time.**

 **Second Excuse: I was gone for an entire week at Girl's Camp.**

 **There. Those are my excuses. So what has been three weeks for you has only been two weeks for me. So there. Legitimate excuses. I'm also updating this at 1:48 Am for y'all, even though my body says to do otherwise. I** ** _could've_** **put it off until tomorrow, but I didn't. So there.**

 **Answering time now.**

 **SilentAngel33: Yup. Speed it up and it'll be great.**

 **Jack905: Yup. Yup.**

 **ADutchMarine: Really, really sorry for updating so late, 'cause I know how much you like my story (well, at least that's what you told me), but life likes to do funky things to free time.**

 **Lavakey: Why thank you! That's actually really great to hear, because I'm trying** ** _really hard_** **to make it as original as possible and not cliché.**

 **slayer911: Heh heh. I have a feeling you're not going to like the ending of this chapter very much. And yes! This is very long! Over ten pages long! And I think Emily would be considered an** ** _anti-hero_** **(learned that term literally last week). And I do read through my chapters. Several times, actually. Maybe not as thoroughly as I could, but I do. If ya' spot any grammar mistakes, you can point them out to me and I'll be happy to fix it. After all, I am only one person and most of my chapters are written between 12:00-3:30 AM so yeah... there'll probably be a few things that I'll miss. Kinda like an email. No matter how many times you read through it, you'll** ** _always_** **find a mistake right after you send it.**

 **Guest star: Thank you!**

 **Sydney: Shizzle... I'll have to have Emily use that sometime.**

 **AprilArtemiskk:**

 **1\. Oh yeah. That thing in the beginning... heh heh. I know that seemed a bit random, but I have a reason for it. I have a possible sequel in mind, and believe me. That 'trashy'** **scene will be important.**

 **2\. LIFE COMPLETION!**

 **3\. Why are the polar bear and weasel not arrested yet? The same reasons Emily and Mr. Big aren't. They don't go walking into cops every day, after all. They have ways to avoid them. And actually, Duke WAS arrested by the police by Judy in the actual movie, but was released a few days after. Even though Chief Bozo described him as a 'master criminal'.**

 **And yes, Emily was a bit cold towards him, I'll admit. But I was getting worried that Emily was getting to friendly towards people. And I also needed to give her some flaws (because one of the main components of an OC are the flaws). I decided to make Emily a bit... selfish at times (whether she realizes it or not). Nobody taught her how to say 'please' or 'thank you'. Nobody showed her how to be polite. Heck, her motto is 'Look out for number one'. And there's also phycology that plays into it (did I spell that right?). The reason she doesn't act that way toward Jake is because she met him in a very mentally unstable state. She was desperate for someone to rely on and take care of her (because really, she's still just a kid). Her mental guards were down when she made friends with Jake. When she met Clawhauser, she was extremely cautious and wary. Her mental guards were up, and it confused her that Clawhauser was being so nice. If Clawhauser was nice at the same time she met Jake, she would have been relieved and welcomed it whole-heartedly. But at that point, she was physically and mentally exhausted. She was just thrown out of a car and jumped into a river, in which she floated down completely alone and devoid of help. One would think that that would make her accepting towards Clawhauser, but she already had someone she trusted: Jake. And when she woke up, she learned that she was in the hands of an officer who currently had possession of a tazer. There's also her reliance on Clawhauser. She's completely vulnerable. He can turn on her at any time and there's nothing she can do about it. At least with Jake, she could run. Emily knows places she could hide. But at Clawhauser's, Emily is completely reliant on him and his decisions. And that scares her. Whether she knows it or not, it scared her. Maybe if she lived away, where she** ** _wasn't_** **confined in a small space 24/7, where she** ** _wasn't_** **completely reliant and vulnerable, and where she could visit when it was convenient to** ** _her,_** **things would be different. She would be grateful for the free donuts and find his bubbly demeanor exciting. But in the circumstances she's in (especially how she has to socialize with him** ** _way more_** **than she has done with anyone else, which is overwhelming considering his personality), she's a bit on edge with him. But we do see that she** ** _did,_** **in fact, begin to care for him. She was hurt when he 'betrayed' her, and that alone was an accomplishment.**

 **DerpyNerd280: Lucky you. You reread everything the day before I updated. You don't have to wait like everybody else did!**

 _ **IMPORTANT NOTE! PLEASE READ.**_

 _ **In chapter two, I changed Jake's dialogue slightly when he was talking about why he helped Emily. It's a bit important later on, so I figured y'all should be aware of it.**_

I wanted to groan. Scream. Curse my bad luck. But I didn't. I just forced a smile and nodded in greeting, "Hey Duke. Barny."

"Bernie, actually," the polar bear corrected.

"What are y'all doing here?" Duke said this like we were old friends who have not seen each other in years, "With Flopsy and that… traitor?"

"Nice to see you too, Duke," Nick waved.

"You… you know her?" Judy asked incredulously.

"Oh sure!" he answered, "We got very well acquainted. How's that arm, Mudder?"

"I can say the same to you, weasel."

"Thanks for asking! It's fine, really. The docs stitched me right up! Though… I am not too fond of the bill."

I shrugged, "Not much I can do about that. At least you _got_ a doctor. Mine was a clumsy cheetah."

"Mine was a quack."

Bernie rolled his eyes and nudged his partner. Duke glared in his direction before proceeding, "Alright. Here's the cheese. Give it to us, and we'll hand her over to th' ZPD. We promise to take _great_ care of her."

He said the word _'great'_ like one would say _'hate'._ I visibly shuddered and stepped back, "N-no, its fine. Really. I'll just stay with these guys. I hear they got _great_ back seats."

Judy eyed them suspiciously, "Why do you want her? We're going to turn her over to the ZPD anyway."

"Hey, we found her first. We just want the money."

"And a little payback," the polar bear growled as he cracked his knuckles.

I gulped and hopped back once again.

Surprisingly, Nick stepped in front of me, "Look, fellas. I know we all kinda' had a rocky past, but Code 9.81-Something-3-Whatever states that you cannot injure suspects or prisoners without reason. And I doubt you have a good reason."

"Oh, take a looksie here, Bernie. Seems like Nick went from Wilde to _Milde."_

"Nick? What are you doing?" Judy whispered.

He turned his back to the duo and hissed, "Look Carrots, you don't know these type of people like I do. Whatever they plan to do with her isn't going to be good. It can be from a few punches to a full out brawl, depending on… well. Darlin'," he turned to me, "do you know what ya' did to make them angry?"

I look back and winced, "I'm not _totally_ sure, but I think I may have… stained their car?"

"Stained their car?"

"With blood."

"With blood," Nick repeated incredulously. Judy pinched the bridge (do bunnies have bridges?) of her nose, "Oh sweet cheese and crackers."

"You done with your chat over there? We're waiting."

Judy turned to them with a forced smile, "You know what? I think _we_ will turn her in, thank you."

 _"_ _And_ we will give you the reward money," Nick agreed.

The bear and weasel exchanged glances, "But how about our payback? We've got a score to settle."

I nodded to my leg, "I had to jump off a cliff and break my ankle to escape ya'. Isn't that enough?" I actually didn't know what was wrong with my ankle. I just said it for dramatic effect. I didn't even know if it was possible to _break_ them in the first place. Isn't an ankle that little ball-y thing above your foot? I mean, it didn't _look_ shattered, but…

Duke cut me off from my thinking, "It ain't our fault that you jumped. Just hand 'er over. You know what? We don't even have to _give_ her to the ZPD. Once we're done we'll just hand her back to you."

"We only want to ruffle a few feathers. Promise not to hurt her _that_ bad," Bernie explained, "And you can give us the reward money on the way back. Those medical bills don't pay themselves."

I was not very happy at the fact that I was being bartered like an object. But if I had to choose someone to go with, I'll have to go with Judy. I mean, I'm _pretty_ sure they wouldn't hurt me. And I'm not sure how many more beatings I could take. Besides, Nick and Judy are short and weak. I can, I don't know, fall on top of them and roll away or something stupid like that. Judy would probably dart me, but the point is that you can't roll over a polar bear. A polar bear with sharp teeth and claws.

I shivered.

"It's illegal to perform in ruthless acts of violence," Judy stated, "You boys will get in more trouble than you already are."

Duke rolled his eyes, "Ha! Yeah right. Like _anyone_ would believe _that thing._ T'was an act of self-defense. I'm trustin' you'll keep quiet about it, yeah?"

I shifted nervously. I hated it when conversations went downhill like this. And it didn't help that I was pretty much standing on one foot with my hands cuffed behind me. I could already feel my foot fall asleep.

I could hear Nick gulp, which surprised me. His face showed no signs of panic or fear. I tried to mimic his expression while he said, "Duke, old pal. How 'bout we just part ways? I'll take Wise back to headquarters and give you guys the reward. And you know what? I'll throw in a few extra bucks from my own pay. That'll make up for your score, right?"

"Nick, what are you doing?" Judy hissed.

Bernie tapped his chin, "And how much is a 'few extra bucks'?"

I grinned in relief. Nick knew what he was doing. He was playing the game of business, right in my element. I'm not sure _where_ he learned to talk like that, but he was doing it. And he was doing it perfectly. His lazed gaze, the relaxed posture, and not specifying anything _too_ much. Bernie and Duke saw this too. They saw the game he was playing. A game they all knew how to play well.

But then, of course, Judy stepped in. "Nick! We don't have to pay anything! They would be lucky if they get any money at all!" the polar bear growled while the rest of us gaped, "And no, we're not going to just _'let you'_ break a law!" she let go of me and stepped forward, "By the Zootopia Police Department, if you dare to threaten us, barter with us, or even negotiate with us, I can and will have you arrested. So, if I were you, I would get out of our way and in turn, I will not press charges." Judy smirked, confident she won. Nick hid his face behind his hand, and I hid behind Nick.

The polar bear blinked a few times before asking, "So, do you wanna', like, take them out and blame it on the Mudder?"

"No, you know I can't stomach murdering, Bernie. I have standards," Duke answered, "I say we take 'em to those other people. We won't get as much money, but we'll get to settle our score and we won't have to deal with _this."_

They began to advance. Judy fumbled for her dart gun and aimed, "Stay back! You have no authority to—"

"Is that loaded?" Duke asked.

Judy furrowed her brows in confusion and looked. While she did that Duke lunged. "Judy!" Nick cried, but was a moment too late. He knocked the gun out of her hands and she stumbled to the ground. Nick rushed over and tried to help her up, "C'mon, fellas. You know Carrots here didn't mean any of that. Sh-she was just joking!"

"Yeah, yeah," Bernie rolled his eyes, "And I'm Santa Claws."

I took this opportunity to escape and tried to go out the way we came, only to find that the door was locked from the inside. So instead I tried to go up the fire escape. I took about three steps before collapsing in a cry of pain.

After my vision cleared, I looked over and saw Bernie holding Judy and Nick. The Duke was now advancing on me. "There, there. We're not gonna' hurt ya'."

I growled and tried to kick at him. He easily dodged and jumped on top of me, holding the gun Judy dropped. "Alright. What should we do now?"

Bernie swiped Nick's gun from his hostler and shrugged, "I dunno. Your car is too small to fit all of us. I mean, we could put 'em in the trunk, but you know what happened last time."

"Say…" Duke wondered with a grin, "Don't you coppers have a car?"

Nick narrowed his eyes, "You stay away from our baby."

Bernie shrugged and pulled the keys from his back pocket, "What was that you said? You heard they had _great_ backseats?"

"W-well, when the competition is a bloodied trunk, it's hard to lose," I tried to backtrack.

Bernie dropped the two officers and Duke aimed the gun at them. The polar bear then sighed, pulled me to my feet, and punched me in the face. Before I even hit the ground, he swung at my stomach, knocking the air out of me.

I fell to the ground and gasped for breath. Black spots danced around the corners of my teary gaze, and I tasted something strange in my mouth. Something like expired salt or somethin'. In my dazed state, I brought my hand to my mouth to check. When it came back there was red.

Huh. Blood.

Musta' bit my tongue.

"I'll keep her down, you go lock the coppers up," Duke shouted, "Then come back. I don't think I can carry her all by myself."

I blinked slowly, only half-listening to the conversation above me. When I opened my eyes, the blurry silhouette of Bernie was gone. Along with the two officers. I didn't know where they were. Nor did I care. Heh. I wouldn't have minded if they all suddenly died. That would be funny. In a weird… ironic… way.

Once the ringing in my head stopped, I was able to focus more. I tried to get up, but didn't have the motivation to. So I lay on the ground like a slug.

Sweet cheesecakes. Polar bears can pack one heck of a punch.

I blinked again, but when I opened my eyes, Bernie was carrying me to a car. I hardly noticed when he cuffed one of my hands to Nick (they were no longer behind me at this point).

"There," Bernie nodded, "Simple solution to our two-cuffs-three-people problem."

I turned and saw that Nick's other wrist was cuffed to Judy's. _'It's like a six-legged race,'_ I thought, _'except with wrists.'_

Or was it called a four-legged race? I wasn't sure.

I heard the car start up and begin to drive. I stared out the window, trying to clear the ringing in my head when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and saw Nick, "Hey, um… you've got a little something… right under your nose… it's kinda' staining the car…"

I swiped my nose and found that it was bleeding. _'Huh. So I didn't bite my tongue. It was a bloody nose.'_

Judy elbowed Nick and looked at me in concern (nicest look she ever gave me), "Are… you alright?"

The ringing in my head stopped at this point. I noticed that my ankle was throbbing with a new-found vengeance. I probably bumped it the wrong way throughout all the chaos.

I shrugged and turned the other way, not really wanting to talk.

We sat there for about five whole minutes in complete silence. And that's the time it took me to get my thoughts back together.

 _'_ _Why are ya' just sittin' there? Get moving, Wise!'_

I began to search the car for something to use. Through the glass window pane separating the cops and the outlaws I saw a half-empty water bottle. I knocked on the glass. Duke turned and opened it, "What is it?"

I cleared my throat before asking, "Hey Duke? C-can I have that water bottle? I w-want ta' clean myself up." I winced at my voice. It sounded raspy.

Duke looked at Bernie questionably. He shrugged, "Don't see why not. We don't want her to stain this car too."

Duke gave me the water bottle and I took it gratefully. "No funny business," he warned.

"Heaven forbid I g-get the seat wet."

Duke slammed the pane in my face and I instantly began to clean myself up. I poured water over my face and they wiped it with the bottom half of my shirt. I cleaned my hands, and with some afterthought, my cut on my shoulder (it split open a bit after everything). Then I drunk the rest.

With the newfound energy from the water, I instantly began to search around the car, but was stopped by a tug on my wrist. I looked up to see Nick and Judy staring at me. Heh. I almost forgot they were there.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked.

"Tryin' to save my but," I hissed.

"How?" Judy inquired.

I shrugged and looked under the seat, "I don't know. Never been in the back of a police car before."

It was true. Strangely enough, I was never taken to jail. I was either not worth the attention or was too hard to catch. Either way, I evaded the drive every time. I couldn't help but snicker.

"What's so funny?" Judy demanded.

"Oh… it's just ironic," seeing their blank expressions, I continued, "You know, just our situation." Nick and Judy exchanged glances and shrugged. I sighed. "It's just… whenever I pictured myself in a police car, I saw it with me in the back and two officers in the front. Not me in the back with the darned coppers and the _outlaws_ in front."

"Oh…"

I groaned, "Look, you're the police here. You know more about this car than I do. Is there a way to escape or not?"

Judy shook her head, "This car is specifically made to keep mammals in. If there's an escape route, none of us would know it."

I sighed and rolled my eyes, "Well, _that's_ a big help. Thanks a lot."

"What did you want me to say?" she demanded defensively.

"Somethin' helpful. Now shut up, I need to save myself again."

I knew I was being unnecessarily rude (it wasn't _her_ fault that she didn't know the way out), but I was just feeling frustrated. And I was also tired from all the blood loss. And I'm not sure about you, but when you combine those two things together you get one very cranky person.

Nick scowled and pulled me back up by the wrist, "Alright, Miss Wise Cracks, lay off a bit, will ya'?"

I glared at him and pulled back, "Stop making puns about my name. I've heard 'em all before and I'm sick of it."

"Well then," he said, "Maybe you shouldn't have told us your last name, huh?"

I stood up on my seat and began to back up (the seat was surprisingly large), "How 'bout you get off your furred buts and help me out a bit, yeah?" I charged to the window and rammed my shoulder into it, hoping that'd it break. Unfortunately I used my bad shoulder and I just bounced right off. I lay on my seat, groaning. _Okay, bad idea._

"Don't bother," Judy sighed, "Bullet proof glass."

"And we already tried breaking the glass while you were gone."

I got up and looked around, "There has to be _some_ thing in here that can get us out. There's _always_ something."

Judy got up on her seat and began to look around too, "Maybe we could use our handcuffs to break the windows?"

"What about your phones or whatever?" I asked, "Don't you guys have those?"

Nick held out his empty hands, "Bernie took 'em."

"Okay… But you're cops. Don't ya' have like, some sort of secret gadget for things like this?"

"You're thinking of spies."

I blinked, "Oh." I've always imagined cops to have some sort of invincibility. That's what it always looked like to me. I mean sure, not totally invincible, but like some sort of endless, faceless, unstoppable force that _can_ be evaded or defeated, but just… keep on coming.

By the end of it, all three of us were on the ground searching for something useful. During that time I re-wrapped the bandages around my foot and my shoulder. Though the pain from the punches had somewhat numbed, I knew that they'll return with vengeance in the morning. I could already feel my face swelling up.

After searching the back of the car for about the… fifth? Sixth? Let's say seventh time, Nick finally moaned and collapsed on his seat, pulling me and Judy up. "What's the point? There's _nothing_ here. And even if we did find a way to get out, what would we do then, huh? Jump out of the car?"

I snorted at that last statement, seeing how I almost did that six days ago.

"Oh what?" Nick demanded, "You think this is funny? Sorry to break it to you, Brainiac, but we're all stuck here because of _you."_

I narrowed my eyes at that. There was no _way_ he was pinning all this on me, "Nuh-uh, man. You better back off. If there's anyone to blame, it's Miss Hopps over there."

"Me!?"

"Yes, you. Nick had it all unda' control, and then you just had ta' go off on your big, fancy speech about how 'big and mighty' you were and how you automatically had control over the situation. Well guess what? You didn't. And now we're stuck in the back of a _police car_ to who knows where."

If I didn't know any better, I could've sworn I saw her fur turn red. She opened her mouth to defend herself when she stopped short. "You… don't know where we're going?"

We all paused for a moment there. There was a deathly silence and I felt my stomach sink. I don't know a lotta' things… like how to read efficiently, or how to do multiplication. I was used to being dumb. But there were _some_ things that I happened to know a lot about. Like gangs or drug rings. So when it came to things like this, I always, _always_ had at least an _idea_ about what is going on. But here, the streets hadn't taken to kindly to me.

I… I hated not knowing these things. They're the only things I _do_ know.

"I don't know."

Judy turned to Nick hopefully, "Officer Wilde?"

Nick shook his head, "Nope."

Judy rubbed her face with her free hand, "Cheese and crackers… where else could they _possibly_ go without being caught? Who else would want you?"

"I dunno." I was really getting tired of not knowing thins. I tried to be more helpful, "It could be a crime boss… like Mr. Big or somethin'."

Judy seemed to have a smug look about her when she said the next few words, "We're friends with Mr. Big, so no."

I stared.

"Y-you're… _friends_ with Mr. Big? _The_ Mr. Big? The one I've been hearin' about?"

Officer Wilde nodded, "Yup. Carrots here is the godmother to his grandkid."

"Well… congratulations," I said.

"How do you know about Mr. Big?" Nick asked suddenly.

"Oh, um… you know…" I felt myself begin to sweat. I didn't like it when people poked into my life style. "J-j-just from, like, _around."_

The two officers stared at me, totally unconvinced. "Uh huh…"

"Can we just get back on topic? Who we goin' to?"

"Oh! Right, right," Judy smacked herself and said, "So we ruled out Mr. Big. It _could_ be a crime boss, but they wouldn't have any real reason to keep her."

"Did you happen to piss anyone else off, sweetheart?" Nick asked. Judy covered her mouth and gasped, "Language, Nick!"

"…that's not really a 'language' word."

"I'll have to agree with fluffbut here," I said, "No swearing around the children, please."

"But I didn't…!"

I quickly interrupted before he could argue, "So back to the question, no, I did not make anyone else mad. Not _really._ The only guys I can think of are the cops and those drunk guys, but they wouldn't really remember me."

"So you _were_ seen at the pub!" Judy cried triumphantly.

"…er, yeah. I guess." I wasn't so sure if that was a good idea to tell them that. Oh well. Can't do anything about that now.

The car went over a big bump and we all flew from our seats, landing on top of each other.

"Okay… ow, ow, ow. Nick, you're sitting on my ears."

"Jeez! Judy! You're rubbin' into my shoulder! I c-can and will stain your suit!"

"All of you! Off of my tail! Right now!"

We eventually untangled ourselves (it would have been faster if it wasn't for the hand cuffs). I grabbed at my shoulder and groaned. If I was going to escape, I needed to fix myself up.

I pulled up my foot and rested it on my knee. It was a bit uncomfortable, as I am not the most flexible person, but the sweatpants made it easier.

I already patched up my foot somewhat, but it still jiggled around too much. I tried rewrapping the bandages a few times, but that just made it worse. Finally, I sighed and turned to the two officers. I hated asking for help. "Do either of you idiots know how ta' fix my foot?"

And I wasn't too good at it either.

"Yes, but after that rude remark, I'm not so sure I want to," Judy quipped.

Especially from people I hated.

"What about you, Nick? Can't you wrap it up? It's hurting real bad."

The fox closed his eyes and leaned back into his seat, "I didn't pay attention to that class. Take it up with Judy."

I turned back to the bunny. She had the smuggest look on her face.

Alright. She wants to play rough, huh? Well guess what? I'm going to beat her game before it starts. It's not like help was going to come easy anyway.

I pretended to slump my shoulders in defeat, "Whatever. I'll just let it be like this."

Judy seemed a bit surprised by my reaction, but quickly regained her posture. "Oh! Uh… g-good! You'll just have to stay like that, I guess." I ignored her. "Just stay like that." Silence. "Forever."

I nodded and made a big show of placing my foot on the ground. But as soon as it touched, I doubled over and yelled out in pain. Judy was instantly on top of me, with Nick face planting on the floor behind her (just as planned). "Emily! Are you okay!"

"Oh jeez man…" I pretended to moan, "It hurts. _Really_ bad."

"Okay… okay… oh dear… where does it hurt?"

I weakly pointed to my foot. Judy touched it and I yelped. There was pounding on the glass. I turned and saw the weasel, "Bernie says to shut up."

"Duke! Don't make _me_ the bad guy here! You were complaining to!"

"Yeah, but you heard 'em first."

The glass closed and all we could hear was muffled arguing. Judy gulped and turned back to me, "Okay, Emily. I'm going to fix you up, but you're going have to be a bit quieter, alright?"

To be honest, I found the whole situation funny. She was trolling on me a few seconds ago, but now she was mothering all over me. She was too gullible for her own good. I felt a chuckle start to rise in my throat, but bit it down with a whimper instead. I nodded weakly.

"Okay… well, it actually looks pretty good… if I can bandage it right, you'll be able to walk on it… just not like, you know… very good…"

She started to wrap it up, and I made a big show of wincing and moaning. After she was done, Judy helped me sit up and asked if I was alright. I nodded, "Y-yeah… I'm good—"

I was cut off by laughter. Nick's laughter. We turned and saw him on his hands and knees clutching his stomach in silent laughter. "O-oh my gosh… _haha_ … Carrots you actually… oh _hehe!"_

Judy looked confused. I glared at Nick, silently telling him to shut up. He only shook his head, "Oh, no way Wise Guy. I knew you were smart, but… _hahaha!_ "

"Nick," Judy said slowly, "What are you laughing about?"

Officer Wilde shook his head and wiped tears from his eyes, "Some things never change. Judy, she just tricked you into fixing her foot."

There was a moment of tense silence. Until I punched the seat, "Dang you, Nick! Why couldn't you have kept quiet about it!?"

"'Cause nobody makes a fool out of Carrots, except me."

Judy took a step back from me, "You were lying?"

"Hey man, there was no other way to get my foot fixed."

"I just wanted you to say sorry!"

I rolled my eyes. _Ha. Like I'm going to believe that._ "Yeah right. Lying was the only way."

Judy turned to Nick angrily, "Why didn't _you_ say something?" The fox shrugged, "We needed her foot fixed. I'm the one next to her, and I have no plans of becoming a tow truck."

Judy threw up her hands, "I was going to do it! I just wanted an apology!"

I covered my mouth to stifle a giggle. "An apology?" When I was little, my teachers taught me to say sorry whenever I did something bad. I tried to do that once when I accidently spilled milk on an older girl, but she tattled on me anyway. I only say sorry when I really mean it. And I definitely _do not_ mean it. Besides, it's not like it'd help me out anyway.

"Yes, an apology. Didn't your mom ever teach you common courtesy?"

"Nope."

"Hey guys?" Nick asked.

"What do you mean, 'nope'?"

"I mean 'nope'."

"Guys?"

"Everyone learns it! It's common knowledge!"

"Hey, Lovebirds?" the fox asked again.

I tapped my skull, "Ain't no common knowledge in _this_ mind. All knowledge in here is _uncommon."_

"So I guess you didn't learn 'please' and 'thank you' either?"

"GUYS!"

"WHAT!?" we screamed.

Nick pointed out the window, "We're here."

"Oh."

 **To be honest, I'm at a** ** _bit_** **of a writers block for this. So I'm not so sure when I'll update again. I hardly have any of the next chapter done, so we'll just have to see what happens (also, I'm trying to start an Undertale AU. I'm working on a comic and everything. It's been consuming most of my nights).**

 **So yeah. Be sure to check out the change in chapter two and to review! It's 2:38 and I STILL have to do 10 minutes of scripture study. Not to mention we're hosting a party tomorrow night. Ugh. Why am I still up? Anyways, leave a review if you liked this chapter/story. Goodnight.**

 **Don't own Zootopia.**


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